


Queen of the South

by Anonymous



Series: The Blossoms of Time [3]
Category: Chinese History RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-04-14 14:08:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4567437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lady Jia, or as known by her own people Princess Jia, is the daughter of a tribal king who rules petty land to the South of the Han Dynasty's land. With civil unrest beginning to disrupt the tiny kingdom King Cai wants rid of his three daughters and so "gives" Jia to Cao Cao and his men, expecting that Cao Cao will marry his daughter. While this is not the case Jia finds herself with a huge part to play in the eventual founding of the Kingdom and eventually Empire of Cao Wei.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Princess

"Fine, take her" the defeated King snapped, shoving his second eldest daughter at Cao Cao. She turned and looked back at her Father, looking heavily betrayed.  
"Why?" She demanded, in tears. He ignored her, yet still looked regretful as he turned away without another word, though those with keen eyes may have seen his fist clench and head bow. The Princess shoke and Cao Cao placed a hand on her arm, managing to put his hand right the way around.  
"Bahba!" She suddenly yelled, Cao Cao let her go and she ran after her Father, wrapping her arms around him from behind. She didn't say anything, just cried into his back. Defeated once again the King turned and gently carressed hs daughter's face, doing his best to rid it of tears.  
"Mao, listen, you have to go with that man, okay? You'll be safe with him" he reassured her. He wasn't sure whether he was lying or not.  
"I won't be! I will be here, not with them!" The Princess protested.  
"No you won't, now go. I imagine that man wants to marry you, and if you do then we'll have someone to help us protect home." The King did his best to smile.  
"But I want you to be happy, like you and Mahma" the Princess mumbled, rubbig her eyes frantically.

"Mao, you have to go" the King repeated, yet he hugged his daughter once more and then took her hand, leading her back to Cao Cao.  
"I can assure you, she'll be well looked after" Cao Cao promised, "I hope that may quell any uneasy feelings, Lord Cai." The King gave Cao Cao a rather stoney glare, despite his offer he wasn't all too found of people actually defeating him.  
"You are in no position to call me Lord. It is as we agreed; you won the duel then you get my daughter. All I request is that you keep her out of harm's way."

They took Mao, or Jia as they were supposed to call her as that was her adult name, to where their horses were. They would still be in view of the King if he had not left to go in and give some kind of comfort to his angered wife and youngest daughter.  
"Look! Cao Cao won!" Called one of his soldiers from among the pitiful amount.  
"That Princess is very beautiful" one said, gawking at Jia, only making her want to hide her face.  
"Do you think Cao Cao will marry her?" Another asked.  
"Maybe, though I think he might give her to one of his retainers" someone answered. Ignoring all of the chatter about the soldiers in his tiny army Cao Cao turned to the barbarian Princess,  
"My Lady if you might ride with me?"  
"I can ride perfectly well on my own" she replied, not at all afraid of being rude, she'd already shown herself up by sobbing in front of everyone.

"Ah, I appear to make you anxious, and I'm sorry for that my Lady" Cao Cao sighed, clearly having taken Jia's point the wrong way, "then I ask that you ride with Xiahou Dun, it is merely because we do not have enough horses that I cannot give you one. I have heard a great many tales of your Kingdom's horse back warfare is better than all that in China." This caught Lady Jia off guard and all she could do was stutter a surprised thank you, before turning away in embarrassment. If any of the "civilised" men passed through their territory, however brilliant they may be, their ways were always condemned. Jia used her embarrassment to turn to look at the few loyal retainers Cao Cao had and a young man, say eighteen, with short brown hair stepped forward.  
"That would be myself, Princess Jia" he stated, taking her hand and kissing it. Princess? Princess?! Everyone here called her Lady, yet this man was calling her Princess.  
"Might I hurry you" Cao Cao said quickly, "we must make haste."

Xiahou Dun did offer the Princess a leg up, thinking perhaps she was too short to get up by herself. Yet she ignored him and did just as he thought she could not. He gave a small shrug and got up himself, seating himself behind her.  
"Any weird touching or funny business I will punch you" she warned him immediately.  
"I can assure you Princess Jia, I will do no such thing, providing you don't mind my arms round that beautiful waist of yours" he attempted to...reassure her. Yet she was there in a flash, twisting round and slapping him across the face.  
"I have trouble with you doing so but those so called "compliments", as you men seem to think they are, count" she snapped.  
"Of course, Princess Jia" he mumbled, grabbing the reigns, his face stinging for the slap. She was not a woman to be messed with, that was for sure.

Cao Cao could not hold back a laugh at his subordinate and had one of his other retainers lead so that he may go at the same pace as Xiahou Dun and Lady Jia.  
"Quite an unusual reaction, many women would take that as a compliment" he commented to strike up conversation.  
"Then your women are strange" Lady Jia replied, "our women are taught to only take compliments from their husbands, no other man."  
"A sound argument my Lady" Cao Cao smiled, "leads to less promiscuous ways, I suppose it is forbidden for a man to take concubines?"  
"To take what?" Lady Jia asked, very confused and earning herself a look of surprise from both the men.  
"Someone, or several, who are not his official wife but whom he may have children with" Cao Cao explained.  
"There's no such thing, providing they go through the correct ceremony any can be taken as official wives, it's just not a common practice" Lady Jia replied.

Come evening they stopped as the sun began to set, they ate their fill and then thought to set off again. It didn't get very far as almost as soon as Cao Cao had got on his horse he had gotten off again.  
"It would be foolish to travel through the night here, we're in hostile land as it is. Lady Jia's lands are too far away for us to request quick enough assistance, especially if we are on the move." So, in light of that, people were put on guard and a small, very much make shift, camp was set up. Jia, a little critical of the size of Cao Cao's army, really hoped they could all fight as well as Cao Cao himself could, otherwise it was quite the mystery as to how such a small force had survived. Though very much welcomed by them Jia chose to sit on the outskirts of the camp and watch the moon and stars.

It was a lovely night, a little cloudy, but the moon and stars still imprinted their light onto the land. Jia had always preferred night, she found constellations and the moon much nicer to stare at for hours on end than she did the land. So she took to sitting on the grass, leaning on a tree, and simply staring up at the sky, making pictures from the stars. She knew there were proper ones but making up your own was far more fun, and they looked like what they said anyway. The night air was pleasantly cold, not the kind that had you shivering all the time, but it was enough to make you bundle yourself up a bit.

She leant forward to scratch her foot and the next moment had a blanket put round her shoulders. She jumped and turned around to see who it was, managing to leave a white scratch mark on her ankle.  
"Thank you" she smiled, having got over the shock. Xiahou Dun smiled back and asked, "Might I sit with you?" "Of course" Jia smiled, shuffling over a little so he could lean on the tree as well. Once he had sat beside her he asked,  
"Princess Jia, are you alright?"  
"I'm fine" Jia responded, there he was again, calling her Princess again, "why would you ask?"  
"Well, you seem distant with us. Believe me, Cao Cao keeps his word, there's no need to be wary of us" he sighed, not too sure whether this was how he was supposed to go about the situation.  
  
"You do know that I have never been around "civilised" company" she did her best to conceal it but her dislike was very much evident, "before. Not even once."  
"Please, a civilisation is a civilisation, you and your people are not uncivilised in the slightest" Xiahou Dun reassured her, "but might I ask, how come? If my memory serves correct I'm sure your Father is renowned for holding audiences with the likes of us."  
"He kept us out of them, my two sisters and I, however many audiences he held he was never...trusting of any of them, especially when it came to his daughters" Jia explained.  
"I see" Dun muttered.

"Then why now?" Cao Cao asked, making them both jump, turning to see him walk from the tree he'd been stood by and sit on Jia's other side. Jia gave a sigh,  
"Recently we've been threatened with civil war. One of our top ministers has been causing trouble internally yet my Father can't simply rid himself of Minister Shu, he is far too loved by the people who's land he is in charge of."  
"I see, so the King wants his daughters out of the country before civil war erupts" Cao Cao then added his own deduction, "because he's going to get rid of Minister Shu." Jia nodded,  
"Not that I can't fight, not that any of us can't fight. They train us because it's demanded that we know how to defend our homes if our husbands are absent." Neither of the men had anything to say to this.

The three veered from the subject and began talking about the stars, as had been Lady Jia's intention. Yet what people find comfort in never seems to last.  
"We're being watched by someone" she muttered and then added so the two men could hear, "excuse me a second." She disappeared off in search of a bow and arrows. In silence she stole one from one of the sleeping soldiers and then went back and dragged herself up the tree she had been sat against. She watched the small clump carefully, keeping a very keen eye on the shape of the person. Yes, definitely a spy, they were obvious, attempting to stay hidden in such an obvious choice. She counted herself down as she readied the arrow, gave them a second glare and then fired.

It hit exactly where she had been aiming for - the shoulder. Whoever they were screamed in pain, piercing the silence with an almost inhumane scream of anguish and then stumbled into view. A yellow sash was round their waist and it had Xiahou Dun and Cao Cao on guard immediately. There was a rebellion growing slowly, but surely, that associated themselves with the colour yellow. Jia, having done as she intended, dropped down from the tree and got a proper look at the person. It was a young man, perhaps twenty or so, but he was definitely well worked, his body build a good show of that."That was you?!" Xiahou Dun asked, surprised that the Princess had even done such a thing, let alone of her own accord.  
"I did say I was trained, and anyway, I haven't killed him so take all the glory you want" she answered, shrugging. The two men were so surprised that her rudeness did not even register.

At first Cao Cao intended to kill the man but Lady Jia, still having not just Xiahou Dun and Cao Cao but now the entire army in a state of shock, managed to put forward a suggestion without challenge.  
"We should treat him kindly, dress his wound, feed him. That way, if he really is part of this rebellion faction you're talking about it might be just a little easier to get some information out of him" she suggested.  
"That's a sound plan" agreed one of Cao Cao's other retainers, he was sort of the strategist as well but it wasn't something that had been proclaimed officially."Then that is what we shall do. Lady Jia, as you would fit the part better than any of us would, I ask that you do this" Cao Cao agreed.

Lady Jia did as asked, having learnt how to dress wounds from her Mother, not that it was a particularly difficult thing to do, it was just that shoulders could be a spot of bother.  
"Why are you helping me?" They demanded, "you're the one who shot me."  
"Well you know of the current unrest, never trust a man in yellow" Jia replied. They spat at her,  
"You don't even belong to the Han people. You're one of the nomads." Lady Jia gave them a smile as she whipped the disgusting substance off her cheek.  
"Well done, you can work out my speech is accented." He just glared at her, rather offended by her sudden rude nature. While she was treating him nicer than intended she wasn't exactly going to be _nice_ to him.

"All done?" Xiahou DUn asked when Jia appeared from the tent they'd put the (potential) spy in. She nodded but added,  
"You may want to keep a couple of guards around the tent. He doesn't seem the type to be held back by such a minor wound."  
"I wouldn't call it a minor wound, he was writhing in pain when you hit him" Xiahou Dun replied, very surprised. Jia laughed gently,"It just happened to hurt more than a normal hit to the shoulder, I hit the joint you see. Being hit there is akin to say...being shot in the eye, without loss of life that is."  
"That sounds like some kind of creepy foreshadowing" Xiahou Dun muttered, "you aren't one of those weird mystics or whatever they're called are you?"  
"No, it's because my cousin got hit there and in the eye, he said the eye only hurt a little more" Jia answered.

Not a minute later a loud, hacking cough could be heard from the exact same tent and Lady Jia and Xiahou Dun rushed back in. They found the man coughing up blood, it was dripping down his chin and onto his lap. Of course Lady Jia did not fall for this. She tore a bit of cloth from the long strip she'd been given to dress his shoulder and used it to wipe the blood off his chin. She got up and held the cloth out to Xiahou Dun,  
"Smell familiar?" He merely stared at her, not quite sure what the hell she was doing. Though as she rolled her eyes he quickly sniffed it,  
"Berries?" She nodded and then turned to the man and barked at him to open his mouth. He refused so she smacked him on the back, making him jerk forward and spit out a good few seeds. Definitely berries.  
"You're a stupid man" she sighed, "you've poisoned yourself, you've got maybe two hours?"

"We should go my Lord, no spy is without their army" Lady Jia sighed, holding the tent door open, having tossed the cloth at the spy and now made to leave. Xiahou Dun stared at her for a second, _my lord_ , no one had ever called him that. No one need ever have to call him that, heck barely anyone addressed Cao Cao in that way. Misused word perhaps? After all this was not her first language.  
" _My Lord"_ she repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.  
"Yes, of course Princess Jia" he nodded, "we should inform Cao Cao right away."

"Why were you calling me Lord?" He hissed at her as they made their way to Cao Cao's tent.  
"Make us seem a bit more important than we are" Jia answered.  
"You are important, you're a Princess" he replied, pulling a face. She rolled her eyes at him,  
"Of a tiny nomad tribe that is probably either going to destroy itself or submit to one of your people."  
"Alright, alright I get it" he muttered, glaring at her. However pretty and noble she looked and occasionally acted she made up for it by being equally as rude.

"What is this bickering?" Cao Cao demanded, having clearly overheard them and come out to deal with it himself. Jia went a bit pink and looked away while Xiahou Dun quickly said,  
"Oh nothing, nothing Cao Cao" before adding, "the spy Princess Jia was taking care of appears to have accidentally poisoned himself and Princess Jia has suggested-"  
"Dun if it is the Lady's suggestion then you let her explain, she is stood beside you" Cao Cao stated, "Lady Jia, if you would."  
"As said, I have suggested that we move quickly, a spy is never without their army. It would do no good to ourselves killed for want of rest" Jia explained.  
"Then we shall leave now" Cao Cao nodded, giving the Lady a smile before once again hardening his expression and leaving.

"Xiahou Dun! Lady Jia" Cao Cao called to them while everyone else was readying themselves to leave, "I ask that you leave now. Lady Jia is in our care and it would do no good to lose her so early."  
"Of course Cao Cao" Xiahou Dun nodded, going to get his horse.  
"Lady Jia, take these" Cao Cao said to her, handing her a bow and arrows. She frowned and thanked him but could not resist and asked,  
"Why?"  
"I saw the shot you made before, you are clearly trained well. It is wise to be prepared for any trouble you may run into" Cao Cao explained. Lady Jia sighed and, while hesitating a little, handed the weapon back to Cao Cao,"But it is also wise not to draw attention to yourself, I'm sure Xiahou Dun is skilled enough."

Lady Jia, however, thanked him a second time and went to bow but he stopped her, tipping her chin up. She certainly was the beauty they had been promised. She had a very fair complexion compared to Cao Cao and his men and her hair too was much lighter than anyone else's. Her eyes were neither brown nor black, as was commonplace, but instead a lovely green colour.  
"Shouldn't we be going?" Asked a voice. Cao Cao jumped and quickly drew his finger tips away from Lady Jia's face and turned to look at Xiahou Dun.  
"Of course" Cao Cao nodded, handing a bag of coins to Xiahou Dun, "I wish you both safety, we will meet once again when we are on safe ground. Head for Luoyang."

"You sounded jealous before" Jia giggled, resting her head against Dun's back.  
"I was not, why would I be jealous, what would I be jealous about, don't be preposterous" Dun replied, really hoping that she couldn't see his face because he was now a raging scarlet. She laughed again,  
"It's alright, I won't speak of it."  
"Speak of what?" He demanded. Rude, a tease and smart...this could not get any worse.  
"Oh well, why else would you be paying so much attention to me" she giggled against his back. Oh no wait, yes it could.  
"I'd never usually tell a lady to shut up but please do Princess Jia" he sighed.  
"Then my work here is done" she laughed, she then kissed his shoulder and then settled down so that she might sleep.


	2. Promises

It took a whole 17 days before they reached the safety of Luoyang, ridiculously far away from where they were. Cao Cao had been made a prefect of the city the same year and had become well known for handing out the law to anyone, noble or peasant. To some he appeared an unjust ruler because he'd had the guts to punish an, albeit distant, member of the royal clan. Upon on hearing this Jia agreed that it was only justice and that those complaining clearly didn't have a very strong sense of reason. Aside from Cao Cao's excellent sense the two found each other, while on their thirteen day journey, that while most definitely growing tired of one another they did rather enjoy the other's company.

They worked on a rota, each being the rider for two days so that the other may rest before swapping once again. They did not stop unless the horse needed to, choosing to sleep against each other whenever it was their rest days. However on the 7th day it became apparent that they would have to for the sake of Jia. Dun took the reigns for the following four days and they had to make frequent stops, at these Lady Jia would disappear for a few minutes before coming back with an equally unhappy look on her face. Unless she was awake and complaining of pains she was asleep against Dun's back. He could help but smile when he heard her faintly snoring against his back, she was always quick to answer if he asked anything and quick to judge everything she saw but asleep she was peaceful. Though he was also thankful she wasn't a drooler, otherwise he'd be in need of another coat.

Come the third day of these pains things seemed to get a lot worse. Jia had barely hidden behind a tree to do whatever she did before she threw up the small breakfast they'd had. For a good ten minutes she stood, doubled over while Dun held her hair out of the way, just waiting to throw up a second time.  
“Just had to be now didn't it” she sighed, “you can let go now, I think I'm fine.” Once he'd let go she straightened herself up very slowly and stood still for at least another five minutes. She then shooed him off so she could sort out what she needed to. Convinced she wasn't going to bring up any more they set off again. Jia fell asleep straight away and did not wake up at all, usually she would wake up every couple of hours or so but this time she slept well, well into the night and did not wake up until Dun lifted her off the horse at almost midnight.

He'd decided, having seen the state she was in, that staying somewhere until she felt better was probably the best option, anyway his mother had always told him to look after girls when they were like this, it was no use pushing her. He paid for a room and then took her upstairs,  
“I'm going to go and get us some food, okay?” She nodded and just as he got down the corridor he heard her burst into tears. He rushed back to find her to have discovered that there was blood all over her. He sighed sadly and shut the door, going back to the bar and consulting the landlady.  
“I...I hate to be a bother but you don't happen to have any means of baths do you?” He asked, praying he wasn't going scarlet. Of all the situations he could be thrown into it was this one.  
“We do but we wouldn't really offer them at a time like this” she answered.  
“It's just well...the woman I'm escorting is er...” he cursed himself but said it anyway, “I'd hope you'd understand as you're also a woman. I honestly do not wish to be rude by saying that.” The Landlady merely gave a nod,  
“It's alright, my daughter and I will sort her out, rest easy.” Dun sighed with relief,  
“Thank you.”

He gave up his dinner that night and bought Jia as many sweet things as he could with the little money they had, she had said multiple times that was all she was wishing for. He sat at one of the tables in the bar and waited for her, the Landlady had said that she'd bring Jia in. After a good half an hour Jia came in, wearing a black garment she'd clearly borrowed and looking somewhat more content then she had been. She even waved to him and smiled a little before making her way over and sitting across from him.  
“You feeling better?” He asked, getting the small package out, it contained all that he had bought for her.  
“A little” she smiled, she then looked across at him and frowned, “Dun, where's your food?”  
“I got you the sweets you asked for instead” he sighed, pushing the package across to her.

This seemed to embarrass Lady Jia a little as she went bright red and looked away,  
“Dun you really didn't have to, you do need to eat as well you know, I'm not going to be in any fit state to ride for a while.”  
“Princess it's alright” he smiled, “I've lived on nothing before, I'm sure this won't kill me.” Jia put her head in her hands and sighed,  
“They won't take the money I have, we're too far north.”  
“Princess I promise you, it is fine” he smiled, reaching over and taking her hands from her face and tipping her chin up. Xiahou Dun looked her over the same way Cao Cao had.

Her skin was fair, considerably lighter than anyone he'd ever met, and her eyes were a dazzling green. He was sure that her tone was enough to make people stare but her eyes really seemed to be turning heads. Eyes like that just weren't existent in the Han peoples, especially not this far north. Her hair too was too light to be Han, it was a kind of auburn colour that was only seen to the very west, out of China and was associated with a band of warring clans that the country did their best to stay out of touch with. The longer he stared at her the more red her cheeks got but he didn't seem to notice this. He moved his hand a little and then ran his thumb along her lips, they weren't so soft but rather rough from dehydration. The biggest surprise however was that she didn't yell at him or slap him, she just watched his eyes as he studied her.

Jia looked back at him. 'He isn't that bad I suppose' she thought to herself. His eyes were certainly a nice colour, almost black but in finer details there were small specks that were a lighter brown colour. There was certainly something odd about him though, ah yes, that was it: his hair. For a start it wasn't black like almost everyone else's but instead, again, a very dark brown with the occasional lighter brown fleck, another thing was that it was short. Cao Cao and all his other men had long hair so why was Dun any different? No matter, at least he wasn't an evil man; far from it in fact he was probably the nicest person she'd met over the last few days. With that she took his hand that was tipping her chin jump and pushed it down onto the table, holding it as she ate.

“Hey, close your eyes and open your mouth” Jia giggled, she still had hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze as she said this. He gave her a rather doubtful look but did it any way.  
“Hey no peeking, I saw you” she laughed. He rolled his eyes at her, grinning as he did but closed his eyes again and waited. Jia giggled to herself again and then popped one of the sweets into his mouth. He smiled a little and started sucking on the sweet as he opened his eyes. Lady Jia became a laughing mess for no apparent reason and gave quite the unladylike snort which also sent Dun into fits of laughter and within about a minute the two were a complete mess. They ended up practically lying on the table, faces hidden by forearms all while giggling stupidly.

Once composed they looked up at each other, only able to see one another's eyes. Even though Dun could only see that dazzling green he could tell that, while no longer laughing, Lady Jia was most definitely smiling brightly. He smiled a little and moved his arm, as did she, and leant forward to kiss Lady Jia.  
“Cousin! Who knew you'd be here” Laughed a voice, it was a little slurred and very lively. Dun and Jia jumped and turned to look at the man whom had spoken to them. He was a big man with long hair that was tied up atop his head, with big smiley eyes and mouth.  
“Yuan?! What are you doing here?” Dun asked. Please don't be red. Please don't be red. Please don't be red.  
“A messenger from Cao Cao was ahead of you and told me to meet you here” Yuan answered, sitting beside Lady Jia, “so this is the beauty that Cao Cao won us.” Lady Jia went a bit red and looked away, eating in silence.

Yuan and Dun talked at length about various things that didn't really interest Lady Jia. Wine, women and fighting. That was the one thing that had not changed since Jia had last seen her family and friends – what the men talked about. Only here the word for wine was not ge, the word for women was not namei and to fight was not bashu ma. So Lady Jia sat quietly, listening to the conversation but not really paying very much attention.  
“So Lady Jia” Yuan started, catching Lady Jia off guard, “which tribe are you from.”  
“I'm not sure what you call us but we call ourselves the Batou” Jia answered.  
“Shan” Dun answered for her, “they're to the south of Fujiann.” Yuan quizzed her at length about her home and eventually she started playing the game against him, by speaking in her own tongue and having him guess what the hell she was going on about by what she did with her hands – he was annoyingly good it.

Eventually Lady Jia retired and Yuan left them so Dun went with her.  
“I trust you feel better, Princess?” He asked, opening the door to the room for her.  
“I am” she answered and as soon as he shut the door she spun round and hugged him tightly, knocking him off his feet and both of them landing on the bed. He did not know why he did it, but he did. With Jia on top of him he started gently moving her, making her straddle him. Yet she put her hands on his chest and shook her head,  
“No.” Of course, how could he be so stupid. He let go of her hips and she rolled off him.

To his surprise when he tried to turn away she grabbed his shoulder and turned him back.  
“But Princess Jia, I don't want to hurt you” he insisted, pushing her hand off his shoulder. His past had struck at the worse time and had come back to haunt him at the worst of times.  
“You won't. I know you won't” she replied, smiling lightly, it was supposed to be a reassuring smile. He shook his head and pushed her away again,  
“I'll hurt you. I know I will.”  
“Trust me. Trust yourself Dun, you're too kind to hurt anyone” she insisted.

“Jia, I've murdered someone, stay away from me” he snapped, fully intent on being harsh. She froze and stared at him, now she looked terrified. There was no happiness or any laugh or giggle in her eyes, it was just pure terror.  
“No, you can't have. Not you. You're...you're too kind! You're the only one who's ever listened when I said no! You can't have killed so-”  
“What did you say?” He demanded and she shrunk away, his too harsh this time, “no I didn't mean to scare you then. What do you mean about I'm the only one to listen when you said no?” Jia looked away and quickly hid her face.  
“Princess...have you been raped?” He asked. He wanted to pull her into hug and comfort her in some way but now that felt wrong, like even the most simple touch was some kind of violation on her. However Jia took care of that as she burst into tears and threw her arms round his neck. Gosh this girl was a mess.  
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” she sobbed into his shoulder, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Dun just held her.

Once she had stopped crying she snuggled into Dun's chest and said,  
“Dun, I don't care if you've” she sniffled a little, some tears still lingering, “killed someone. I know you won't hurt me. I've met many a murderer in my life and you are like none of them.” He smiled at her a little,  
“Usually people are scared of me when they find out” he sighed, “you're clearly braver than a hundred men.” Jia laughed but then asked,  
“Dun...do...do you mind if I tell you what happened to me?”  
“If you're prepared to talk about it I will listen” he answered. She smiled at him and then pecked him on the lips,  
“I changed my mind, I don't want to. Can we sleep?”  
“Of course Princess Jia” he answered.  
“Just call me Jia, or Mao if you want, it's weird that you're calling me princess” she sighed.  
“Alright, goodnight Jia” he replied.

_“Run but you can't hide Princess!” Called the voice of Minister Shu. This was how he so loved to cause internal conflict. By using the imperial princesses themselves. Currently he was going after Jia, the second eldest, even at only 16 she possessed great beauty that the court women envied her for and the court men lusted for. Yet Minister Shu had got her to himself many times. Not that she wanted to, oh no no no, but she was a woman so what did she matter. As far as he was concerned she was just his toy, as were her sisters Princess Xia and Princess Sun. Such good fun the warrior Princesses were as well, kicking until weak, having to be gagged and bound to keep quiet. Oh how he loved it._

_The problem with Princess Jia is that, while she was easy to see with her beauty and abnormality among the Batou people, she was incredibly hard to catch. Always slipping down corridors and behind hangings on the wall. All the secret passages that her Mother had taught her. Though Minister Shu decided that was why it was so fun and why that made Princess Jia his favourite. Poor lamb, so unwilling to pipe down and let him do what he wanted. As he went about the corridors, now hot on her tail he touched his cheek. Oh the mark she had made in protest and how he had returned it. He needed this girl._

_He heard her sigh and smiled to himself, yes she'd thought that she'd lost him. He was extra quiet and slowly but surely crept across the corridor, intent now on keeping quiet. Oh he loved it, loved it, loved it! The look of horror on her face, of pure terror and then the glorious tears as he gagged her. Feeling so slow but happening in a flash. Gently, oh so gently, he pressed on her throat until she stopped kicking and punching him, eventually she fell limp and he smiled and lifted her, taking her to his rooms. Oh the things he would do to this girl. How she'd kick and try to scream but oh it would amount to nothing. He would have her no matter what._

_He was very gentle with Jia at first. He was careful with her clothes, never ripping or tearing them. Why, that would give him away, and he just couldn't have that now could he? Anyway she was a Princess, she should be treated with respect. The utmost respect. Yet what did she deserve with all of her clothes removed? Nothing, nothing but him._

_At first he attempted to spread her legs and go on down on her but she managed to kick him. Minister Shu only laughed lightly and struggled with her as he pressed her legs together and she fought at him, kicking as best she could._  
 _“Oh Princess you tried so hard.”_  
 _“It's a shame you failed, Princess.”_  
 _“Dear, dear me, Princess_ Jia.”

Jia woke with a start to find Dun shaking her shoulder and saying her name.  
“Ah, you're up, time to go” he smiled. Yet all she did was shake her head and pull the covers up to her nose.  
Jia please” he sighed, “we have to go, there's no use putting up a fuss.” She shook her head again,  
“He's here” she mumbled.  
“Who is?” He asked, having heard her perfectly well.  
“Shu” she answered. Dun frowned at her, now why would the annoying minister be here?  
“What are you talking about Jia?” He asked, trying to tug the covers from her grip.  
“He's here, he's in the corridor” she replied, giving no answer.  
“Jia there are only two rooms and my cousin has the other, there is no one else here, why are y-”

He realized now. That was how Minister Shu was causing trouble – by raping the King's daughter, if not daughters. That was the reason King Cai wanted rid, he wanted them safe from Minister Shu. So he did what every hero would do and promised to protect her. He placed a gentle hand on her cheek,  
“Princess Jia of Shan. I will protect you from anyone who may try to hurt you or who violates you in anyway. Whether they be friend or foe and whether I be dead or alive. Whether I be Lord, peasant or neither I shall make sure you go unharmed.”


	3. Kisses

After they had set off, now with Yuan as well, Jia slept for a little longer, this time no plagued by the appearance of Minister Shu. Awake again she started asking questions.  
“Are there many people in the North?” She asked, her arms tightening a little to get his attention. Dun sighed,  
“Not really, there used to be but they've all moved to the south, not that they treat them any better, if not they treat them worse.”  
“They moved because there was an agrarian crisis” Yuan continued. Jia frowned at him,  
“Agrarian? What does that mean?” She asked, a word like that was far beyond her, while more extensive than her father's, vocabulary.  
“Farming and how Lords were handing out their land” Yuan explained. 

“Now there's flooding along the yellow river and the taxes are stupidly high. If Cao Cao wasn't so loyal to the Han I'd be gone by now” Dun sighed, “people can hardly live in this country.”  
“You do surprise me cousin” Yuan commented, “for someone who was on the run for a few years it's a surprise you're not a bandit.”  
“Shut up Yuan” Dun replied, irritation showing as he threw his cousin a very steely glare. They carried on in silence and Jia took to resting her head against Dun's back. What he had told her still didn't bother her. You could afford to be forgiving of one murder in these times, there was enough that really it was no big deal. Though she arms tightened round his waist for a moment as she remembered how absolutely crazy she had gone the night before.  
“You alright?” He asked quietly, placing a hand on her arm.  
“Yeah, I'm fine...just remembering last night.”

Yuan had clearly heard this and stopped his horse and stared at his cousin and the Princess.  
“WHAT?!” He demanded. The two turned to look at him in surprise and Dun halted the horse.  
“What's wrong?” Jia asked, sitting up and certainly looking very confused while her stiff muscles forced her to stretch.  
“L-l-last night?” Yuan stuttered, looking down right terrified. They had been next door to him. Ew. Dun sighed,  
“Cousin your mind is going down a very wrong and incorrect path. Stop it.”  
“Your scholarly nonsense way of speaking will not fool me!” Yuan protested. Dun sighed, he should have known better than even trying,  
“Never mind. Believe what you wish.”

Finally, after the 17, would have been 14, days passed they reached the gates of Luoyang. Two men were waiting for them, one short and one a giant. One with dark brown hair and the other with jet black hair. Both with smiles on their faces. Jia got down from the horse, having taken the reigns until they got to Luoyang so Dun might rest after four days. He was certainly grateful for this and gladly accepted her assistance in helping him down. This certainly had the two men who had been waiting for them staring at the two. However after a glare they dropped the stare.  
“So this is the Princess” said the taller one, “I see more of a fighter than a Lady in her.”  
“You aught not to talk like that Li Qi” the shorter man hissed at him, rolling his eyes.

The two introduced themselves and while Jia had picked up on the taller man's name, Li Qi, she also found that the shorter man's name was Yue Jin.  
“He's a little touchy about his height so watch what you say Princess” Yuan laughed, only to go flying across the square they were walking through.  
“I think he heard you Yuan” Dun laughed, turning round and going to help his cousin up. Jia laughed and smiled at Yue Jin,  
“Your height doesn't matter, your strength is certainly enough.” He smiled,  
“Why thank you My Lady.” Jia shook her head,  
“No need, please just call me Jia.”  
“Not one for formalities either I see” Li Qi commented, with a big grin. Jia laughed,  
“Well, I'm fine with them, it's just that when you say Lady on it's own sometimes I forget. If you said it to someone who only spoke my language...well you can expect a sword in the belly within a few seconds.”  
“Yikes, you'll have to remind us of that” Li Qi laughed.

As they walked through the city Jia couldn't help but think how empty it appeared. Yes there were people there but them seemed...hostile and hateful. Jia could feel the stares from the windows digging into her back and she did her best not to shiver.  
“It's a shame” Li Qi sighed, “this used to be such a lively place.”  
“Qi you're not even from here, none of us are” Jin sighed, shaking his head at Li Qi.  
“I'm sure that Cao Cao can return it to it's former glory” Jia smiled and all of them turned to stare at her. She was rather surprised by what appeared to be a lack of faith in their lord so she elaborated,  
“I know now it would only be about military numbers, it's the same in my country, but Cao Cao doesn't seem only hell bent on destroying everything in his path when he's got the military strength. This city is going to be excellent, though whether that is in our life times or not I don't know.”

“Maybe she's right” Yuan mumbled to Dun as Jia went ahead with Qi and Jin, laughing as she talked to them.  
“It seemed true didn't it. We were talking about the pain of wounds and she said something about being shot in the eye and it sounded like it was going to happen to me. I asked if she was one of those weird mystics but she told me something about her cousin being shot in the eye. I don't know, it's weird but she seems to be as clueless about the future as the rest of us. Perhaps it's just because she has a some what peculiar way of speaking, this is a second language after all.”  
“Maybe” Yuan replied, though he didn't sound all too convinced.

“It's a shame we can't stay here for long” Qi remarked.  
“Why can't we stay?” Jia asked, lots of things had been confusing her recently and she'd even found herself to be struggling to understand Qi and Jin, they seemed to have a few extra words that Jia hadn't heard Dun, Yuan and Cao Cao used.  
“Cao Cao is no longer the prefect of the city, did Dun not tell you?” Jin answered. Jia shook her head and sighed,  
“Where are we going then?”   
“Dunqiu county” Qi answered, “it's a little more lively than here.”

“Princess! Come with me!” Dun called to her. She excused herself quickly and went to the stables, where Dun was waving to her from. Qi and Jin went to go with her, even though she had dismissed herself but Yuan stopped them, sticking an arm out in front of them and shaking his head frantically,  
“He's been hitting on her since I met up with them four days ago, I wouldn't if I were you.”  
“Eww” Jin mumbled.  
“Ah ha gross” Qi agreed.

“You got your wish” Dun smiled, leading out a horse. It was white and certainly fit for a Princess. Jia grinned and hugged him tightly, having to drag him down a little as he was in fact noticeably taller than her. In response he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up.  
“What are you doing?” She asked, giggling as she suddenly found herself looking down at him.  
“You were hurting my neck so I picked you up” he smiled. Jia giggled and apologised. Dun smiled and looked down for a second only to look back up straight away.   
“Put me down” Jia said quickly, looking away from him.

Within the hour they had set off again, towards Dunqiu county which was another three days away. Though it seemed no one wanted to travel particularly fast so they added a little time to that.  
“You know I don't think Cao Cao is going to last long here either” Qi sighed, quite the man to speak his mind.  
“How so?” Jin asked, giving the tall man a frown, he was the exact opposite.  
“The Empress. I heard something is going on at court and she's the victim of the plot” Qi explained, “I blame the Eunuchs.”  
“Why would that threaten Cao Cao? I know he governs a county but Empress Song is an Empress after all” Jia asked, “it's saying that my actions directly affected my goodness knows what cousins to the west of China.”  
“They're distantly related” Dun answered, “thankfully it's distant enough so they won't kill him but he'll certainly but put out of favour if anything comes up.”  
“That's a ridiculous policy” Jia mumbled to herself.  
“Well it's been going on since the Zhou kings so it's nothing new” Yuan informed her.

Come night fall they stopped for a little to let the horses rest and to eat what they had brought with them.   
“It's very strange all this” Jia sighed, looking over the hill crest they'd stopped at onto the valley below, “with the way all these people from the north were coming just above our borders you'd think the North was a barren wasteland. It's beautiful.”  
“It's a shame the landowners are terrible” Yuan sighed, “it'd be nice to see these fields put to good use.”

“Jia” Dun said when they had set off again. Yuan immediately went ahead with Qi and Jin, he wasn't keen on his cousin talking to the Princess in such a way but the tone Dun had used tone had put him off staying anyway. It seemed like something important.  
“Yes?” She asked, not looking at him but continuing to look ahead.  
“Listen, before, I didn't mean to look” he sighed, “I'm sorry.” She glanced at him and smiled,  
“You really aren't as bad as I was worried you'd be. After what's happened, I suppose I'm a little too distrustful. I'm sorry as well.”

“You know there is one good thing about having to travel all this way” Qi smiled, it had been the two days and now they could see Dunqiu just ahead and they'd be there within a couple of hours if not less.  
“What would that be” Jin asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering what questionable thing the tall man was going to say. Wine? Food? Women? The last is close enough.  
“I get to see my beautiful wife again” Qi grinned, “and this is all worth it.”  
“Same here” Jin grinned, looking very happy indeed. For once the short man agreed with the taller man and he could not be more glad.  
"And then we have our two singles" Yuan laughed, turning to look at Dun and Jia. They both glared at him. Qi laughed,  
"Race you!" He shouted before speeding off into the distance.  
"Just because I'm short!" Jin yelled after him, following suit.  
"Oh, fine" Yuan sighed before following as well.  
"You can join them if you want" Jia smiled.  
"And leave the Princess all alone?" Dun replied, "not happening." Jia laughed and thanked him. 

"Jia stop your horse" Dun said. Jia frowned at him but did as he asked and shrieked with laughter as he pulled her over to his own. The white horse Jia had been riding immediately sped after Yuan, Jin and Qi, emitting a loud whinny as it did. The two laughed but Dun then cleared his throat,  
"Listen, Princess" he started, turning her a little to look at him, "what Yuan has been saying. He's right. I know that the lowest you'll marry is Cao Cao and even then you'll probably marry some imperial prince. But I thought, as everything else is political, that maybe I should tell you I love you before I miss my chance." Jia sighed and stroked his cheek gently,  
"My dear you have known me for 20 days and you say you love me?"  
"I do" he insisted, "you laugh so much and smile, even when you're in pain and you've bared the brunt of more pain than anyone else I've ever met. Yes you're beautiful but that's not all that I've fallen in love with."  
"You've not fallen in love with me Dun, however much you wish you have. 20 days is just not long enough" Jia replied. Yet she looked upset, "so, if what you say is true about marriage, this is the only kiss you'll get from me.

"Gently she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a soft kiss. It really was soft as well. Her lips were pressed against his and that was it. No sucking or weird tongue stuff. Just lips. This was the only kiss he was ever going to get from the Princess and he was going to savour it. All too soon she pulled away and he had to open his eyes again. Such unhappiness had befallen this girl and yet she was willing to kiss him. Yet, however much it saddened him, he knew she was right. You simply could not fall in love with someone in 20 days.  
"Wanna see if we can catch up with them?" She suggested with a laugh.  
"Sure" he grinned.


	4. Drunkeness

They reached Dunqiu in the promised time span and quickly had hot meals thrust into their hands. A celebration was held in the evening as Cao Cao and his men arrived and everyone was once again reunited. With lots of dancing and wine they were eventually reduced to just Cao Cao, Dun, Yuan, Jin, Qi and Jia. That being said Jin, Qi and Yuan all had their wives with them while Cao Cao had claimed Jia. He had her sat on his lap and kept placing soft kisses on her neck and shoulder, which was uncovered. With everyone else occupied by women Dun was necking wine far faster than was healthy. His speed only seemed to increase as Cao Cao moved Jia slightly so she was semi-straddling him and began to kiss her on the mouth, rough and almost barbaric.

Yet Cao Cao had very clearly noticed that Dun was unoccupied by any woman and that the amount of wine he was drinking was far too much, not to mention it was hardly making him drunk. Usually Dun was drunk the quickest, he'd never really held well with alcohol. Cao Cao gently pushed Jia away, and had her look back at Dun who had just tipped another glass down his throat.   
“You've paid me enough attention, how about you go and entertain him” Cao Cao suggested, “I'm afraid the wine will kill him otherwise.” Jia apprehensively got up off Cao Cao's lap and went and sat on Dun's.   
“Well this is awkward” Dun sighed, putting the once again full cup aside.  
“I'd rather you had your way than killed yourself with the alcohol” Jia replied, rolling her eyes, “just forget what I said before we got here, you've probably drank enough.” She played about with the coat he was still wearing and kissed him twice.  
“Oh thanks” he muttered between kisses, “really helps.”  
“What's up with you” she hissed, kissing his neck, “you're usually so lively.”  
“Just shut up and kiss me” he snapped.

And kiss him she did. By the time Jia was done with him he had a large mark on his collar bone and was completely drenched in Jia. Not anything in particular just her. Her scent, her taste, everything about Jia. He was no stranger to the female body but to one untouched by any form of love was a whole new thing. She was a fifty fifty. If he touched her she would either push him away or guide him, unless she could return the advancement in some way. For example, when he had first pushed his hand up her skirt she had pushed him away but he was a little slower and played about with her thighs before going any further. Yet she didn't push him away this time and, with his hand in the right place, started rocking her hips gently.

Her moans were excellent and entrancing. They were that of someone completely inexperienced. The littlest thing seemed to excite her, have her shaking and grabbing for something. The slightest whisper had her digging her nails into his back and rocking her hips in desperation. With everyone finally gone Dun whispered in her ear as he pushed two fingers into her,  
“How about I pin you against the floor and fuck you?” Jia shook but pulled away,  
“Dun I...I...I can't” she stuttered.

Despite the wine starting to take proper effect on him he could still see her panicking. Heck he couldn't see his own hand but that didn't mean he couldn't tell that she was scared. He put a gentle arm round her waist and she tensed up,  
“Hey, hey, it's okay” he reassured her, “relax, I won't do anything.” She relaxed slowly and he withdrew his fingers, “whatever you're doing you've got to be relaxed, alright? Other wise it just feels weird and sometimes it hurts, okay?” Jia nodded and he smiled before collecting her up in his arms and standing up.  
Jia couldn't help but giggle as he stumbled about, swinging her all over the place as he did. Dun smiled at her as he finally tumbled into his rooms and actually did manage to lie her down without incident. He smiled down at her and pecked her on the cheek before disappearing.

Jia sighed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling, nothing to really do. She did her best not to listen out for Dun, she knew exactly what he was doing, she herself was no stranger to the male body either. Of course she wasn't. Yet one that didn't want to hurt her or use her in anyway, that was new and, well exciting.   
“Dun” she called, feeling her cheeks colouring.  
“Yes” he grunted in answer, “is something the matter?”  
“Come back I...I changed my mind” she stuttered. He poked his head round the door and frowned at her,  
“Are you sure? You don't look very sure.” Jia nodded and he sighed, “alright then.”

The gentleness didn't matter when he undressed her but it came when he was actually kissing her and gently and slowly thrusting. When he pulled away from her lips he asked,  
“Are you okay?” He gently stroked her cheek and smiled down at her. Jia nodded and moaned softly, uttering his name. He smiled at her again before leaning down and kissing her neck softly. He took his chance and leant up gently to her ear,  
“I love you, Princess.”

For what felt like hours after Dun held Jia close to his chest, stroking her hair and occasionally placing light kisses on her forehead. They didn't need to talk, enough words had been said. They just lay there enjoying one another. Jia was smiling lightly, it was odd that she wasn't hurt or aching. If anything she was aching for more but she restrained herself from such thoughts. This was pleasant enough. Skin gently brushing skin. Dun's heartbeat playing in Jia's ear, the softest and most pleasant music. Everything was just...pleasant.

“It's strange, don't you think” Dun sighed, “that it was me and not some imperial prince.”  
“An Imperial prince, as if” Jia replied, “Cao Cao maybe but he seems quite content with Lady Bian for now.” Dun smiled a little and hugged her,  
“It sounds almost as if you're glad it was me.” Jia laughed,  
“Of course I'm glad” and she then leant up and kissed him lightly on the lips.   
“To think you'd settle for a murderer and not a Prince, you are a strange woman” he murmured.

Jia shifted slightly and frowned at him,  
“Dun, I've already told you; I don't care. Yes it's possibly not the nicest memory for you and I get that but please, stop dwelling on it.”  
“So you're not scared of me, I know you're a warrior princess but even some of my own men are scared of me” he replied, some what monotone.  
“I have seen far worse and have been through far worse, Dun you really don't scare me, if anything I feel quite at home when I'm with you” Jia reassured him, pushing the top of her head against his chin gently and laughing, “you aren't judging and you don't see me as just a play thing for you. I like that.”

They finally fell asleep as the sun peeked over the horizon and slept well into the next day, as did many others, tired from the long journeys they had all endured. Dun woke Jia up by gently rubbing his nose against her's,  
“Morning Princess” he smiled as she opened her eyes. She smiled gently and he kissed her softly, pushing his hand into her messy red hair, “how do you feel, about last night?”  
“Excellent” Jia smiled. Dun grinned and kissed her again, harder this time, lifting her head up a little. Jia giggled as he pulled away and pressed quick and gentle kisses down her neck.

“Dun!” yelled a voice, it was Yuan, and he was determined to get his cousin out of bed. Dun cursed under his breath and pressed his mouth to Jia's so she couldn't give them away. Morning sex was only fun when you couldn't get caught.   
“DUN” Yuan yelled, banging on the door, “get here now!” Dun sighed gently and pulled away, well hardly,  
“Don't make a sound, okay? We're not supposed to be doing this.” Jia nodded and bit her lip as Dun yelled back at Yuan,  
“Get lost Yuan and don't you dare come in here!” Dun then turned his attention back to Jia and freed her from her silence, her lip almost torn from the biting.

With a little more yelling Yuan eventually left them alone and they could finally enjoy themselves.  
“I can't believe someone would hurt you so much” Dun whispered, “you're so perfect.” He smiled and nuzzled her gently, rubbing his nose against her jaw and neck. Jia giggled and pushed him off,  
“Stop it” she laughed, “you're tickling me.”   
“Oh fine” he grumbled jokey, “come on I think we've been naked for long enough, Princess.” Jia gave a laugh and nod before the two got up and got dressed again. 

Once they were dressed before they left Dun wrapped his arms gently around Jia's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Jia smiled gently and gave his hand a soft squeeze as she linked it with her own.  
“Xiahou Dun” asked a voice, knocking on the door lightly. Dun quickly let go of Jia and leapt away.  
“Is that you Han Hao?” He asked, looking around hurriedly.  
“Yes, I have no wishes to come in, I can hear your fumbling. I merely thought to warn you that Cao Cao has asked that everyone come to the main hall.”  
“Thank you Han Hao, please tell him I will arrive there soon” Dun answered.  
“I shall my Lord” Han Hao answered. As soon as his foot steps had faded Dun quickly shoved Jia out of the rooom,  
“Go, anywhere, doesn't matter where, just go, I'll see you in the hall.”

So Jia wandered down the endless corridors, much like she had done at home. Except these ones were not as extensive as the ones that were at home as she very soon found herself in a large hall.  
“Lady Jia!” Qi called, waving to her. She jumped but smiled and waved back before going over to join them.  
“Where have you been all morning?” Jin asked, raising an eyebrow, “you don't happen to have been with Xiahou Dun.”  
“Of course not” Jia answered, though Qi burst into fits of laughter.   
“She's red! She's red!” He bellowed. Jin punched him just hard enough and he stopped laughing,  
“It's alright Lady Jia, your secret is safe with us and if Qi doesn't honour that, well” Jin held his fist up slightly and Qi gulped. Jia laughed, aware she was still a little pink.

“So what does Cao Cao want anyway?” Jia asked. Qi shrugged but Jin answered,  
“I imagine it has something to do with Emperor Ling, I saw an imperial messenger yesterday.”  
“What could he want?” Jia asked.  
“Well, it might have something to do with you” Jin answered, “you see, it appears the only one who uses your correct title is Dun by calling you Princess, it's really just a case of which more is a mouthful, saying Jiaji is much easier than Jia Gong Zhu.” Jia nodded,  
“Okay but what does that have to do with it?”  
“You're a Princess! That's what! The Emperor will want to see you, another woman was presented to the Emperor not too long ago, named Xia” Qi answered, quite perplexed by Jia's lack of guess work.  
“Xia? Was she married off to someone called Ling Cao?” Jia asked excitedly.  
“Yes...why?” Jin answered. Jia grinned,  
“That's my elder sister.”

The excitement of knowing that her older sister was safe and well in China, having heard nothing from her since her marriage, did not fade easily. Jia could hardly contain her excitement at the thought of potentially seeing her sister again after so long. Xia had been the first of the three sisters to escape Minister Shu and how Jia and Sun, the youngest, had envied her. An estranged cousin of their's, Sun Jian, had fought for her hand and immediately had her married to one of his men, Ling Cao. It was all a little odd with Sun Jian. His Mother had been a 2nd cousin to their own Mother and the two family lines had never expected to cross but, here they were, definitely crossed. 

Though there was something else that had Jia envying not only her eldest sister but also her youngest as well. She was the only one out of the four siblings, that was including her brother Xiong, who had inherited her Mother's traits of red hair and green eyes. This abnormality had some what isolated her from everyone else. She as something to be stared at, not talked to. She was something to be engrossed by, not respected. She was to be played with, not loved. This unfortunate collection of traits, as well as her perception and refusal to be beaten down until powerless, had made her Minister Shu's favourite and she came to hate how she looked.

Of course, baring this all in mind, Minister Shu did not even dare touch the Queen. Pei Ma Shi, or Queen Ma as she as known to the people, was possibly the most dangerous woman in the Shan court. Some Chinese had even said she may well become the Shan's Lu Zhi. A major warning as, Grand Empress Dowager Lu Zhi, had been one of the most dangerous women in Chinese history and was even called The Bloody Empress, a huge difference to her husband, the first Han emperor, Liu Bang. 

Queen Ma, like her daughters, was a warrior at heart and nothing could tare her from that. King Cai had even had to place her under house arrest once so she may no go riding and lose yet another child; which proved to be a good move as he finally got his male heir, Prince Xiong. Queen Ma was renowned for her ability with a bow and arrow, especially on horse back. Some said her hair was not red by inheritance, but in fact the blood of her enemies. She had fought off many raiding clans when the regent of her own country while her nephew, King Dai of Woxia, was too young to rule. She had been the first female regent within the Woxia and had made sure everyone knew that she was not someone to be messed with. Even now King Dai would still call upon his aunt when in a spot of trouble.

Despite this Queen Ma was also an excellent Mother to her children, especially to Jia. Though sadly she was unaware of what was happening to her daughters, everyone, even the King, was just a little bit too afraid to tell her. However this ignorance had led to Ma getting into a fierce argument with King Cai, trying to have Jia married off to her childhood sweet heart, now general of the west, Shao Wang. Jia had been greatly in favour of this herself, the two had fallen in love and, whenever he was at court, made careful arrangements so that they might see each other. Sadly the Queen was shouted down and Jia was up for the grabs of the Han.

When everyone was finally in the hall, which was not too sparse, but neither too crowed, a nice change from the Shan, Cao Cao stood from his chair. He had a letter in his hand and indeed it did have the Imperial seal on it.  
“My friends” he began, his voice booming about the room, ricocheting off the walls, “we have been called to the Han Imperial Court once again. Emperor Ling and dear cousin Empress Song would like to meet our Princess!”

Jia was dumbstruck. They wanted to meet her, see her for themselves, the very Emperor and Empress of China! The child of heaven and his goddess like wife wanted to see her, a lowly Princess of a barbarian clan. As she found herself dazzled Qi and Jin dragged her up to stand beside Cao Cao as he continued,  
“We must take out pick soon, we shall need those of great status to accompany our Lady.” At this Jia found herself very uncomfortable, she had never had anyone attending to her, except the old maid Chu and her granddaughter Chan. She didn't want anyone attending to her.

At this, once everyone had gone back to their business, Jia went straight to Cao Cao.  
“I have no wishes to insult your kindness” she started, “but I really have no wish to be attended to.”  
“My Lady, don't be ridiculous, you are a Princess! It's expected of you” he replied, quite surprised by this request, “it does not have to be many, perhaps four.” Jia gave an uneasy sigh and agreed,  
“Might I ask however, is it alright if I go riding for a little, I've had little fresh air.”  
“Of course, of course” Cao Cao smiled, “but please, take some food and water with you, go down to the kitchens and I'm sure they'll have some for you.”  
“Thank you” Jia smiled brightly.

So Jia did as asked and then went out to the stables just outside the administrative building at the very back of Dunqiu's capital. While the front faced the town the back was open fields that were too infertile to use for farming, so many made use of it as practice grounds but for now it was empty.  
“Playing stable boy are you?” She asked as she came in, knowing that the white horse she had been riding the day before would be there. Dun laughed,  
“Perhaps, Princess” he answered. Jia rolled her eyes and smiled,  
“I do wish you wouldn't call me that.”

Dun smiled and patted his horse gently, after having just brushed it's coat several times over,  
“So what do you think then, Princess Mao, about the Han demanding to see you?”  
“It's a bother” Jia sighed, stroking her own horse's nose, “I'd rather not have to go.”  
“Are you scared of them?” He asked.  
“I don't want Minister Shu to get invovled with any more of this, as soon as he hears of it he will try” Jia sighed.  
“Oh, my dear, I promise you, you will soon be rided of this terrible man” Dun reassured her.  
“And have his son Hui take over? Pfft, as if it would be any better, he is much the same. If only Lu, his second son, might take his place, then their would be truthful governance” Jia answered.  
“One day” Dun sighed, walking over to Jia and embracing her, “one day my sweet lady.”


	5. Myths and Legends

All too quickly for Jia's liking the day to visit the Han Emperor came and, to save her the trouble, Cao Cao picked out the four ladies in waiting and a page to accompany her. The four ladies were: Lady Ma Hua, the cousin of warlord Ma Teng and a concubine of Cao Cao; Lady Chang, the wife of Xiahou Yuan; Lady Shuang, wife of Cao Cao's financial minister and finally Lady Pang, a lady in waiting and much loved servant of Lady Bian. The page was Cao Meng, the son of one of Cao Cao's brothers, who was only 12 years old.

 

“Lady Jia! Come through here!” Called Lady Pang. She really was a lovely woman, she was always smiling and laughing. Her movements were not walking but dancing and she frequently spun if she was talking to you while you walked together. She was very graceful with these movements and she seemed to glide rather than walk, content with herself and having no care for anyone else. So Jia was quite happy to go with her without questioning her at all, as was something of a habit.

 

“Clothes off! Bath time!” Lady Pang giggled, she then did her usual spin and hid her face. Jia gave a small smile and quickly took off her clothes. Though any particular grace she might have had went running for the hills as when she dipped her toe in ice shot through her leg. She gave a shriek and pulled her foot back quickly. Alarmed, Lady Pang spun back around and then burst out laughing,

“It makes your skin look nice!” She laughed, “you don't have to be in for long, and anyway, you look tired, it'll wake you up! Get in! Get in!” Jia went a bit red and, while biting on her lip, braved the cold and got into the bath.

 

“See Lady Jia, not that bad now is it?” Lady Pang smiled as she helped Jia out and wrapped her up so she could dry herself. Jia didn't answer, she was freezing. Once she was dry Lady Pang pulled her through to another room where Lady Ma and Lady Chang were waiting. They dressed her in magnificent but uncomfortable clothes. They were nothing like the simple dress she wore at home. That only consisted of a white dress with a black centre on the skirt as well as a white jacket that was embroidered with gold stitching. Fancy yet simple. These were just plain ridiculous as far as Jia was concerned.

 

The colour was nice enough, a very, very pale green colour as it had begun to transition into summer but still spring clung to her throne. The sleeves were the worst part. They were absolutely huge, even if she held them up they fell too far for her liking. Jia was used to having her clothes on her body not hanging a foot off. Her waist was also pulled far too tight by a bit of material that was a very light pink colour. Jia wasn't the most muscular of girls, most of her's were in her arms from practising with her bow and arrow at her Mother's insistence and, the one thing she hadn't inherited from her Mother, was that her waist and hips were actually quite small. Lose yet too tight at the same time. This was going to be excellent fun.

 

They painted her face stark white and Jia almost screamed when she happened to see herself in the mirror. Yes she was much fairer than everyone else here but that definitely threw her off. Make up was kept for special occasions at home. Weddings, parties, funerals, those kinds of things, not as an everyday thing like it was to the Han peoples. Lady Chang even tried to get rid of Jia's eyebrows completely but Jia was very quick to protest this and so Lady Chang settled for painting them over with black. Her lips became blood soaked and her cheeks coloured too. She had finally started to quite like how she looked, now away from Minister Shu, and now she had to hide it to please some bastard in a big chair who supposedly ran a country.

 

“Lady Jia you aught not to think like that” said a voice. It was Lady Shuang. She had a very dangerous sounding voice. Soft and silky with a hint of malice behind it. Lady Shuang was a very think and very tall woman who looked down on most other's, a dangerous wife for a dangerous man. The financial minister was a dangerous man indeed. If he chose to rebel then he would have all he needed, pay more men and get them under his influence and then rebel, no problem. Then Cao Cao would be completely crushed. Lady Shuang was the type of woman who would manipulate her husband into doing so.

 

“Think like what?” Jia replied. She didn't like Lady Shuang at all, and like the others was quite scared of her, but Jia did her best not to look or act scared of her. She'd met and dealt with much worse and she hadn't cared less, why was she scared of this woman?

“Clearly you have no restraint” Lady Shuang replied, “you aught not to think of the Emperor at all if you dare think such a thing.”

“I don't know what you're talking about” Jia almost snapped but did her best to keep her cool. _How had she known?_ None of the other ladies had said anything and Jia was positive that she had kept her expression quite vacant as Lady Pang painted over her lips yet again. What an odd woman.

 

Lady Shuang gave a “hmph” of irritation and walked out.

“I don't like her” Lady Pang mumbled, looking a little downcast, “she's always been mean to me.”

“She's mean to everyone Pang” Lady Chang whispered back, “just ignore her if you can Lady Jia, she's just scared of herself.”

“Of herself?” Jia asked in confusion, “why is that?”

“She's scared of what she can do to the court so she acts like she'll do it any second, even Cao Cao is weary of her because no one's really sure if she will or won't” Lady Ma answered.

“She's crazy, scary Lady” Lady Pang added, “someday she might just because someone annoys her. She hates anyone who breaks rules as well.”

“I'll...I'll keep that in mind” Jia sighed, trying not shuffle as she remembered what a strict social rule she and Dun had now broken twice.

 

With her face made up, her too-tight-too-loose clothes on and her hair done up in a very elaborate way Jia was taken to the great hall once again. This time only Cao Cao and Lady Bian were there, as well as...some guests.

“Mahma? Bahba?” She asked as she was lead in, only to see her beaming parents, stood with her brother and two sisters, “Xiong! Sun! Xia!” She made no hesitation in rushing over and embracing them all. Her Mother held on the longest,

“We've missed you so much” she whispered, her arms tight around her daughter, “your Father told me, about what Minister Shu had been doing to you and Xia. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from him.”

“It's alright Mahma” Jia whispered back, “it doesn't matter now.”

 

“Mao why are your sleeves so big?” Xiong, who was five, asked. Jia laughed,

“This is what the Han princesses wear” Jia smiled. Xiong frowned,

“I prefer the white, it's nicer” he mumbled. Jia laughed and patted his mop of black hair,

“Well it's only once so it's alright.”

“So when you come home you'll be dressed normally again?” Xiong asked. Jia threw a look at her parents and they turned away, having made fools of themselves. Jia gave a gentle sigh and knelt down, holding onto Xiong's shoulders.

“Listen, I'm not coming home Xiong, I'm staying here.”

“What? Why?” He asked, horribly offended by this kept secret.

“Because I have to marry someone from here. I can't come home” Jia answered.

 

Xiong's lips trembled and his big brown eyes began to sparkle.

“Hey, hey, you're a future king, you can't cry here” Jia smiled, running a hand through his hair before pulling him to her chest and hugging him gently. Xiong pulled away and looked up at his big sister, who also had tears in her eyes,

“Will I see you sometimes? Will you come see me when I'm king?” He asked, shaking.

“Of course I will Xiong, of course I will” She smiled.

 

With Xiong reassured that they would see each other again some time the Shan's royal family were given their own carriage and all kind of piled in together. It was a little cramped but it didn't particularly bother them.

“So, how come the ever so lovely Minister Shu isn't with us?” Jia asked, “Xiong do not repeat anything you hear okay.”

“Your mother made sure of it. He can't cause as much trouble as he used to” King Cai answered, Jia gave Sun's hand a gentle squeeze, she was the last one her mother did not know about, “so he can be put to work. He's currently overseeing the south while Lu is looking after the capital.”

 

“How is Lu?” Jia asked, “not as poor a man as his father is he?”

“Quite the opposite, he's almost as fair as your Shao Wang” Queen Ma smiled.

“What of Wang? Is he well?” Jia smiled, she still loved him some what. However the looks on her parent's faces told her something was very wrong.

“He was killed while defending the west from the Ci peoples” King Cai. Xia got up and teetered a little as the carriage rocked but leant across and hugged her sister,

“Sorry Mao” she whispered.

“Thanks Chang” Jia mumbled, hugging back, making sure not to get any make up on Xia's clothes.

 

It took six days to travel to Chang'an and it seemed pointless to Jia as to why they had dressed her up now rather than, perhaps, the morning of the day.

“It's because we don't know if it will suit you or not, I know they all look the same but really, there are different styles” Lady Pang explained.

“I don't think they all look the same” Jia replied, frowning a little as lady Ma began to clean the make up off her face.

“That's nice of you” Lady Chang smiled, “when you see them everyday perhaps your vision becomes a little clouded. Though in terms of what suits you, that colour certainly does.”

“Thank you!” Jia beamed.

 

When they stopped for a short while they came to rest at a huge field and, without any hesistation as well of being free of make up and back in her old clothes, Jia joined the men and her sisters in galloping around on horse back while others stayed back and made their lunch. King Cai and Queen Ma, stayed back and watched them.

 

“What do you think then, our precious little flame is all grown up now” Queen Ma smiled, she hadn't used such a nickname for Jia in a long time.

“Burning brightly to light the other's way” King Cai nodded, “it's only now I see what misery she was in. I don't think I've ever seen her smile in such a way she is now.”

“Do you think she'll be an Empress?” Queen Ma asked, giving her husband a glance and glad to see the delighted smile on his face.

“No, if anything she'll do her best to avoid it. She'd hate it. Duties and what not bother her unless she wants to do them. She'd probably go insane in less than a week” King Cai laughed, “I imagine the highest she'll marry is Cao Cao though it looks as if she'll happily settle for lower.”

 

Queen Ma caught an odd feeling to King Cai's tone and spun,

“What do you mean? Who would she settle for?!” King Cai laughed again,

“Watch her carefully, watch where her eyes go and who she keeps talking to other than her sisters.” Queen Ma gave her husband a frown but never the less, she did as he suggested. It warmed Queen Ma's heart to see her daughter smiling, realising that she had been seeing a forced one for so long that she had forgotten Jia's real smile. Carefully she followed her daughter's eyes, to see whom her gaze seemed to rest upon.

 

“A low general, interesting” she mumbled. She could understand perfectly as to why her daughter had taken a particular interest in this man, heck she probably would if she was 20 years younger. Yet she'd never heard him say anything, so she could give no judge of character. So she used the same test her own mother, who was now the grand Queen dowager of the Woxia, had used on Cai.

“Cao Cao, might I test something on one of your men?” She asked, approaching the man who had retired from horse riding to watch.

“Any particular one my Lady?” He replied.

“The one my daughter seems to have taken so much of an interest in” Queen Ma answered, “and it shall involve a bow and arrow.”

“You expect me to say no? I know that you are quite capable and that my men are as well” Cao Cao smiled, “do as you wish.”

 

Queen Ma grabbed one of the hunting bows and few arrows before rushing off to hide somewhere high up.

“That's convenient” she mumbled as she noticed a clump of trees to the side of the field. She ran over and pulled herself up a couple of branches, seating herself carefully so she was hidden but her daughter was perfectly in view. Ah, a moving target, perfect. For a moment she wondered what was going through her own mother's mind when she had done the same twenty years before. Actually probably something entirely different, though she was trusted with being the the grand queen dowager she was a bit loopy.

 

So Queen Ma readied the bow and watched carefully. Her hands did not shake, even though she knew that if this failed she was going to seriously wound, if not kill, her own daughter. Having some faith in yourself tended to make things work out better, that's what she'd found over her years of military experience. Even with an unfamiliar bow this wasn't so hard. Anyway, she knew her daughter certainly wasn't stupid, she'd know not to fall for a slow witted idiot. So, Queen Ma shot.

 

Jia laughed and pressed her heals gently into the horse's side, yelling to her sisters in her own language with glee. Nothing seemed to match happiness like this. At home she had always forced her smile, to hide her terror of Minister Shu's intentions but here she was safe and miles away. Here she could laugh with her sisters, knowing they were safe and happy as well. Now she had friends that had hardly befriended her because she was a Princess but because they genuinely liked her character. They knew she had nothing to give them other than words, but they were glad for that payment.

 

“[Để cho tôi yên ](http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/vietnamese/leavemealone1_vi.mp3)[Sha!](http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/vietnamese/leavemealone1_vi.mp3)”Jia laughed as Sun chased after her on her horse, using her childhood name in a mean way this time. Jia sped up to get away from her sister, glancing back again and again and laughing all the way. Jia sped up to get away from her sister, glancing back again and again, while laughing all the way. Something soft whistled through the air and Dun rushed forward and caught it in his hand.

"You must be careful my Lady, it appears someone is trying to kill you" he said, inspecting the arrow. Jia blinked a little but smiled,

"Thank you, Xiahou Dun." She leant across and pecked him gently on the forehead. He smiled gently,

"Nothing of it, Princess."

 

Queen Ma gave a small smile, she was certainly impressed. Without hesitation after he had spotted the arrow and worked out it's course he had gone forward and saved her daughter. However stereotypical it seemed no one else would do that, it was just a common fairytale.So with no heavy heart as she had prepared herself for she climbed down and made her way back to the field. As she appeared once again everyone turned to stare while the two kings, if one could be called such, Cao Cao and Cai Cai were quietly laughing, knowing.

 

“Mother? Was that you?” Jia asked, rushing forward to Queen Ma. Ma laughed,

“Yes, it was me dear, don't worry, I knew you wouldn't be hurt.” Jia laughed and wrapped her arms around her mother,

“You were doing the same that Grandmother did?”

“I am indeed” Queen Ma smiled, she then pulled away and turned to Xiahou Dun, “you are a capable man. Cao Cao! If my daughter is not wished by any imperial then I wish for this man to have her!”

 

C ome nightfall and after another few hours of travelling with Chang'an still way off in the distance the small group set up camp, too far from a town to stay anywhere else. They sat by the fire and ate what that had left over from lunch and what Dun, Yuan and two elder sisters had managed to hunt. The servants and sisters of Shan then sang songs from their homeland and danced about as the sun faded and once it had fallen and the moon shone down they abandoned this and huddled together under sheep wool blankets, listening to stories told in turn.

 

Princess Xia's story was that of Chu Dong Tu and Princess Tien Dung from their semi-mythical Hong Bang dynasty.

 

_The third King Hung Vuong had a beautiful daughter named Tien-Dung (Divine Beauty), who, although of fairy-like loveliness, was endowed with a whimsical nature. Despite her father’s entreaties, she rejected every offer of marriage, preferring, as she said, to remain single in order to satisfy her passion for visiting the many beautiful sites of her father’s kingdom, known as Van Lang. As the king loved his daughter tenderly, he tried to please her in every way possible, even placing at her disposal a number of vessels including the royal barge, so that she could navigate the rivers of the realm._

_At that time, in the village of Chu Xa, lived Chu Cu-Van and his son Chu Dong-Tu (Marsh Boy). They were poor fishermen whose home had been ruined by fire. They had lost all their clothing except a single loincloth, which they took turns wearing. When Chu Cu-Van fell seriously ill and felt death approaching, he called his son to the side of his mat._

“ _After my death,” he said, “keep this loincloth for thyself.”_

_But Chu Dong-Tu was a pious son and could not let his old father be buried without shroud. He attended the funeral in borrowed clothes and then found himself without a garment of any kind. The poor young fisherman was obliged to do his fishing at night. During the day he would attempt to sell his catch to the people in the boats passing along the river, remaining immersed in the water up to his waist. One day, Princess Tien Dung, then in her twentieth year, accompanied by a brilliant suite, happened to approach the very place where Chu Dong-Tu was standing in the water. When the young fisherman heard the sound of gongs and bells and perceived the wonderful array of parasols and banners, he became frightened and took cover behind some bulrushes. Then he quickly dug a hole in the sand and covered himself so completely that only his nose was exposed._

_Taking a liking to the picturesque surroundings, the princess expressed a desire to bathe there. A tent was set up on the shore. The princess entered, disrobed, and began to pour water over her head and shoulders. As the water trickled to the ground, it washed away some of the sand, exposing Chu Dong-Tu in all his nakedness._

“ _Who are you?” asked the princess. “What are you doing here?”_

“ _Your Royal Highness,” replied the frightened youth, not daring to raise his eyes, “I am only a poor fisherman. Having no garment with which to clothe myself, I was forced to hide in the sand at the approach of the royal barge. Will you not pardon my error?”_

_Princess Tien Dung dressed in haste and threw a remnant of cloth to the young man so that he could cover himself. Then she questioned him in great detail about his past life. Hardship had not marred Chu Dong-Tu’s handsome features, and the princess was not displeased with his demeanor. After some deliberation, she reached a decision._

“ _I had not expected to marry,” she said with a sigh, “but Heaven has ordained this meeting. I cannot oppose Heaven’s Will.” She immediately ordered all her officers and ladies to come forward. When they had assembled, she told them of the extraordinary adventure that had just befallen her. Then she announced that it was her intention to marry the young man._  
“But Your Royal Highness,” cried Chu Dong-Tu on hearing these words, “how can I, a penniless fisherman, be the husband of a royal princess?”  
“It has been predestined,” replied the young woman; “therefore, there can be no reservations about the matter.”  
“Long live Their Royal Highnesses.” cried the officers and ladies in chorus.

_Chu Dong-Tu was properly clothed and groomed and the royal wedding took place that same evening with great pomp. But when King Hung-Vuong learned of it, he became furious and shouted angrily at his courtiers._

“ _In marrying a vagabond,” he said, “Tien Dung has dishonored her rank of royal princess. She is to be disinherited and forever banned from my court.” The princess had no desire to face her father’s wrath. In order to provide for her husband and herself, she decided to go into business. She sold her junks and her jewels, bought some land at a crossroads near the village of Chu Xa, and established a trading post. Visited by merchant vessels from the entire kingdom of Van Lang and from countries overseas as well, the village prospered and in time became a great emporium._

_One day, a foreign merchant advised the princess to send an agent across the sea to purchase some rare merchandise that could then be sold at a tenfold profit. Chu Dong-Tu was charged with this mission and together with the foreign merchant left by sea. On reaching the island of Quynh Vien, they met a Taoist priest who immediately recognized the sign of immortality on Chu Dong-Tu’s forehead. The former fisherman then entrusted his gold to the foreign merchant and remained on the island for one year in order to be initiated into the secrets of the Way (Dao)._

_On the day of Chu Dong-Tu’s departure, the priest gave his disciple a pilgrim’s staff and a conical hat made of palm leaves. He advised him never to be without them._

“ _This staff will give you support,” he said, “but it is worth much more. The hat will protect you from the rain and also from harm. Both have supernatural power.”_

_On returning to Chu Xa, Chu Dong-Tu converted his wife to Taoism. They repented their earthly sins, abandoned their possessions, and left in search of a deserted place, where they would be able to devote themselves entirely to a study of the True Doctrine._

_All day they stumbled on through the wilds and at last fell to the earth exhausted. But before lying down to sleep, Chu Dong-Tu planted his staff in the ground and on it hung the conical hat._

_The couple had been asleep only a few moments before being awakened by a crash of thunder. They sat up between flashes of lightning and saw a magic citadel suddenly rise from the earth. It was complete with jade-and-emerald palaces, public buildings, and houses for the inhabitants. Mandarins, both civil and military, courtiers, soldiers, and servants came forward to welcome them to the city, begging them to rule over the new kingdom. Chu Dong-Tu and his wife entered their palace and began a reign of peace and prosperity._

_When King Hung-Vuong learned of the existence of the magic citadel, he thought that his daughter had rebelled against his authority and was desirous of founding a new dynasty. He assembled an army and ordered his generals to destroy the rival kingdom. The people of the citadel urged the princess to give them weapons so that they might defend her territory._

“ _No,” she said, “I do not intend to defend this citadel by force of arms. Heaven created it and Heaven has sent my father’s army against it. In any case, how can a daughter oppose her father’s will? I must submit to the inevitable.”_

_That evening King Hung-Vuong’s army camped on the bank of the river opposite the magic citadel. His generals planned to attack the following morning. But at midnight a terrible storm arose and the entire citadel with all its inhabitants was seen to rise into the air and disappear. The next morning the royal army found only a marshy pond and a sandy beach at its former sight. The pond received the name of Dam Nhat Da, which means “Pond Formed in One Night”, the beach was called “Spontaneous Beach”, or Bai Tu-Nhien_

While Cao Cao's story of how New Year came to be seemed to some what entrance those from Shan.

 

_Long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ugly and ferocious, which looked like either dragons or unicorns. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming._

_There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks in purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it._

_At a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth at people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldn't stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people._

Then with stories told, finally they rested, hardly prepared for the day of travelling ahead of them the next day.

 

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	6. Lady Shuang's Discovery

Jia could not sleep. Like most she loved the stories and singing and the dancing – who wouldn't fun was there to be had. It was what her Mother had done before that had decided to linger on her mind. She had been told the story about her mad Grandmother several times, she had overheard it for the first time when she was ten and Xia was being taught about marriage. Indeed Queen Ma had done the same test on Ling Cao, but that had been different. That had been an already sealed marriage, it was going to happen anyway. So why would she do it to Dun? Jia knew that the likelihood of her marrying anyone within the Imperial family, however distant the cousin, was next to none. Yet why had her Mother chosen not the commander but the subordinate? These things just did not make sense.

Yet through all the confusion Jia couldn't help but feel rather happy, this was what was really excited her. Though of course it was still potentially going to happen Jia had lived in fear of marrying a man she disliked since Minister Shu had begun interfering. Yet Jia knew full well that if she married Dun then she need have no fear of him. If anything she'd be doing her best to help him rather than be some one to worry about. Battles and strategy aside Jia could see that Dun didn't think all too well of himself. The crime he had committed haunted him and Jia was quite sure it would until his dying day. Still, if she could quell that feeling when it came to attack him then...well hopefully he might well be happy.

The more she thought about him Jia realised that he was actually quite the complicated man. Yes he had an excellently long fuse and was quite the calm man yet if you some how you managed to burn out that fuse...well you were all but dead. Yuan had done it quite recently actually and ended up bed ridden for a week. He had frightened Jia more than once, he had once become so enraged by one of the other retainers that Jia had been afraid he'd end up killing himself in the process before he calmed down. Still, one did have to be quite forgiving with the times and Cao Cao had learnt that well. Although he had actually grown up with Dun and had been the first one Dun found sanctuary with after the murder Cao Cao had ignored this and took him on as if he were a stranger. Letting people start anew when you could easily have them killed tended to get them put to good use.

Having thought about him a little too much Jia found herself wanting to know if he was awake and if perhaps he wouldn't mind her simply lying with him. So she crept quietly to the door of her tent, well aware that her parents were in the next one along and her Mother had the ears of a bat. She lifted the fabric slowly and slipped out, lowering it once again in complete silence. She then tip toed across the grass and saw that a candle was still lit in Dun's tent.  
“Dun?” She whispered.  
“Princess?” He replied, she could see his shadow lifting and saw he was lifting his head a little.  
“Can I come and lie with you?” She asked.  
“Of course, of course” he replied.

She did the same thing, silently lifting and lowering the fabric. He smiled at her and beckoned her over, Jia gave an awkward smile and went and lay down beside him. Dun smiled and pulled her to him, kissing her gently before hugging her, allowing them to get lost in each other's warmth.  
“What do you think then, of perhaps being my wife?” He asked, playing with her hair.   
“I could not be happier” Jia answered, hugging him tightly. Dun gave a gentle laugh and kissed her again,  
“I shall do my best to make you happier than you say you could be.” Jia smiled and snuggled into his side.

He was very warm and Jia found great comfort in his arms and from the occasional kisses he would place on her forehead. For once Jia found herself not at all fearful of sleep. Even now she was still terrified that Minister Shu would appear but some how having someone with her who had vowed that they would protect her was enough to rid her of any fear. She was even quite sure he stayed awake until she had fallen asleep because he was mumbling what seemed to be some kind of lullaby to her which eventually faded with her awareness of what was around her.

The problem with Princess Jia is that, while she was easy to see with her beauty and abnormality among the Batou people, she was incredibly hard to catch. Always slipping down corridors and behind hangings on the wall. All the secret passages that her Mother had taught her. Though Minister Shu decided that was why it was so fun and why that made Princess Jia his favourite. Poor lamb, so unwilling to pipe down and let him do what he wanted. As he went about the corridors, now hot on her tail he touched his cheek. Oh the mark she had made in protest and how he had returned it. He needed this girl.

He heard her sigh and smiled to himself, yes she'd thought that she'd lost him. He was extra quiet and slowly but surely crept across the corridor, intent now on keeping quiet. Oh he loved it, loved it, loved it! The look of horror on her face, of pure terror and then the glorious tears as he gagged her. Feeling so slow but happening in a flash. Gently, oh so gently, he pressed on her throat until she stopped kicking and punching him, eventually she fell limp and he smiled and lifted her, taking her to his rooms. Oh the things he would do to this girl. How she'd kick and try to scream but oh it would amount to nothing. He would have her no matter what.

He was very gentle with Jia at first. He was careful with her clothes, never ripping or tearing them. Why, that would give him away, and he just couldn't have that now could he? Anyway she was a Princess, she should be treated with respect. The utmost respect. Yet what did she deserve with all of her clothes removed? Nothing, nothing but him.

At first he attempted to spread her legs and go on down on her but she managed to kick him. Minister Shu only laughed lightly and struggled with her as he pressed her legs together and she fought at him, kicking as best she could.  
“Oh Princess you tried so hard.”  
“It's a shame you failed, Princess.”  
“Dear, dear me, Princess Jia.”

Jia sat bolt up right, shaking with fear. With lack of terror came nightmares, she should have known. The cold of the early morning attacked her skin, so it rose in defence while she shook under the heavy battle, drenching the soldiers with rain.  
“Jia?” Mumbled a gentle voice, certainly still half asleep. Jia rubbed her eyes and turned back to look at Dun who was squinting at her in confusion.  
“It's nothing” she sighed, lying down again, “sorry for waking you up.”  
“It's” he stopped to yawn, “fine. What was the matter?”  
“I told you, it's nothing” Jia replied, resting her head on her hands and looking away. He gave a sleepy sigh,  
“Alright, tell me later” he mumbled, putting an arm around her shoulders and falling asleep straight away.

Jia lay awake for what felt like hours. She knew she was safe. To her left was Cao Cao, Yue Jin, Xiahou Yuan and Li Qi. To her right was Xia, Sun and her parents. Directly behind were Lady Shuang, Lady Chang, Lady Ma, Lady Pang and Cao Meng. The very person with their arms around her was Xiahou Dun. She could hear his heart beating in her ear rhythmically and calmly, his breathing sound and quiet with the occasional sniffle, a cold had come over him but he ignored it. Jia knew that Minister Shu was not here. He was in the very south and Lu was running the country, not him. He was a whole month's travel away, he couldn't get to her. Yet Jia was still frightened of him.

Eventually, with much courage, Jia nuzzled Dun awake, gently rubbing her nose against his chin and nose.  
“Is something the matter?” He asked, yawning. Jia smiled and kissed him on the cheek,  
“I just thought I'd wake you up, unless you want to get up I though it best that I go back to my tent before everyone else gets up.”   
“No, no, I'll get up as well” he replied, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head a little.  
“Are you sure” Jia asked, “you look quite tired.” He shrugged,  
“The fresh air will wake me up, it's fine.”

When they had finally managed to get out of the tent, having quickly discovered they were a little too tired to move, they set about relighting the fire from the night before. There was still some meat to be eaten and Yue Jin had brought tea leaves with him, the man couldn't live without the stuff. The morning air was cool and the sky was blue, just waiting for the sun to fill it so it may boil the ground.  
“Where's that big pot we used for water yesterday?” Jia asked, having looked around and wondered how such a large thing could escape her sight.  
“Here Princess” Dun answered, nodding to it, ah, so it had been obstructed by him. Jia went over and picked it up and then rested her chin on his shoulder.  
“How long do you think you'll be?” She asked.  
“Only a few minutes, you going to get water?” He replied, not turning to look at her as he knew they'd only bang noses.  
“Yeah, I'll be back in a minute” Jia answered, kissing him on the cheek before leaving.

When she came back a few people were up: Queen Ma; Xia; Yue Jin; Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan.  
“Morning” she called cheerily, the pot on her hip as she took a hand away to wave before hurriedly grabbing it again before it could fall.  
“Chao boui sang!” Xia called, running to her sister and grabbing the other handle just before it could slip out of her sister's hand.  
“Thanks” Jia smiled, “did you sleep well, Xia?”  
“Not really, I can hardly sleep without Cao usually, lack of reassurance that Minister Shu won't suddenly turn up in my bed. How about you?” She replied, indeed she did look quite pale.  
“Much the same, I think only when he is in a grave may I rest easy” Jia sighed.

When they came back there was a fire roaring and Sun had trudged out, just as tired as her sisters.  
“Where's Father?” Jia asked as she divided up the water, some for boiling the left over meat and the rest for Yue Jin's tea obsession.  
“He's praying dear” Queen Ma answered, “you know how he is.”  
“Of course” Jia sighed. Her father seemed to pray all the time, it didn't seem to be for any particular reason – he just did it out of habit now. Xiong suddenly ran out of the tent and scrambled onto Jia's lap,  
“Dad's doing the weird thing again.” Dun, Yuan, Cao Cao and Jin all turned to stare at the boy, wondering what horrors he had seen. Jia laughed,  
“Some of our praying is chanting quietly and it freaks Xiong out a bit, it's not what you're thinking.” They all looked slightly less freaked out at this reassurance. 

An hour or so later, with everyone awake and fed, they set off again and Jia “volunteered” to ride with Dun so that it might be a little less cramped in the carriage. As of what had become the usual Jia fell asleep almost immediately and when they stopped in a village Dun couldn't help asking,  
“What is it with you and falling asleep on me? Is it a new hobby of yours?”  
“Well, you're always warm and you're comfy” Jia answered, pouting a little. He rolled his eyes,  
“I wasn't complaining.”  
“You sounded like you were” Jia grumbled.  
“Be quiet, the both of you” Queen Ma smiled, patting her daughter on the head meanly, “we're already drawing enough attention to ourselves as it is, we don't need you two bickering.”

Finally after the six days had gone by and Jia had found herself dressed up differently on each only for it to be removed and thrown back into her old clothes again they arrived in Chang'an. It was early morning, the sun just rising. Everyone else was allowed to sleep, excluding Jia and the four ladies. At first she was left alone in a room to wait for them while they organised their things. She couldn't help but curl up a little as she thought about the crippling nerves she now had about meeting the Emperor. She had hoped, even prayed, it would be a closed thing. No, it was to be entirely public.

Her sister's had been mostly private. The Emperor, Empress, a few eunuchs and a few officials were there, nothing major. Jia was to face the entire court. Emperor; Empress; Eunuchs; Officials; Ladies; Pages; Guards. Everyone you could think of. Jia was the type of person who could work in situations where there were a few people but not too many. She had gotten used to large amounts anyway, that came with Princess life, but more than a royal handfull was too much. This was too much.

“Jia” said a voice. Jia jumped and stood up quickly, turning to see who the speaker was.  
“Dun, you're not supposed to be here” she hissed, glaring at him, yet she couldn't help but find herself to be glad to see him. He ignored her and went to one of the shelves of books that was in the room. She frowned at him as he silently shuffled through shelf after shelf, wondering what he was doing.  
“Dun is something wrong?” She asked. No answer. She glared at his back and marched over, poking him in the shoulder. He turned and pinned her against the wall, kissing her roughly and perhaps a little too forceful for her liking. He pushed something into her hand and finally slowed down, being a little more gentle with her. This gave her an opportunity to pull away and she turned her head away slightly. He sighed and took the hand that had something in it,  
“Hide it in your clothes, somewhere you can grab it easily” he whispered, “something bad's going to happen. I don't know what, but it's going to.”

Jia pushed him away slowly and then slipped away so she had her space.  
“You scared me then” she mumbled, hiding what he had given her.  
“I'm sorry” he sighed, “I'll keep away if you want me to. I suppose you're already scared enough.” He only really looked at her with one eye, as he was half turned away in shame. Jia also gave a sad sigh and then went over and wrapped her arms around him tightly, resting her head against his chest. She didn't want this to be the last time. The more she thought about it the more she hated the idea of marrying anyone even within the imperial court.

Just listening to his heart thumping in her ear was enough for her to want to return home and pretend that none of this had ever happened. It seemed to hurt more than anything Minister Shu had done. Though each time a whirlwind of emotions had come with it most of that was physical pain, aside from the anger and terror that seemed to make her dizzy. Now her heart was what was aching rather than her body and she was clinging to Dun for support, only for it to hurt more. He hardly helped as he returned her desperate clinging with much the same, too tight with neither wanting to let go.

“Lady Jia” Lady Pang said, for once being quiet as not to wake anyone, “oh, er...never mind.”  
“Lady Pang, no, i-” Jia quickly pulled away but Lady Pang was already at the door.  
“Lady Jia, it's fine, have as long as you like, we have hours before we really have to get you ready” she smiled, “it's alright.” She then shut the door and left them. Jia turned back to Dun and hugged him just as tightly and he returned it once again. Caught once again in a lock, neither wishing to let go.

After an age Dun slipped his hand up to her face and gently stroked her cheek, pulling away slightly too look at her as he did. Jia stared back, surprised at this sudden change. She found herself picking out the little details on his face. One or two of his hairs had already turned grey, there were marks under his eyes from lack of sleep and his lips had marks on them from dehydration. All while she took in these details he was moving slowly closer until so close that Jia had to close her eyes. The very next second his mouth was pressed to her's, his dry and cracked lips pressing against her softer ones. 

Jia hardly knew what to do with her hands, causing her to fidget a little until she had shifted her arms up a bit into a much more comfortable position. Dun moved and kept his arms tight around her waist again, having them bound to one another even tighter. It never seemed to break, breathing peppered by smaller kisses before returning to the kiss. The scent of the outside seemed to engulf Dun while Jia was covered in that of books and fabric, having been kept from the grass for so long. As the held themselves against one another the two mixed, raining on both of them.

“LADY CAI JIA” barked a voice. The chain forged between them seemed to break as Jia tore herself away at the sound of her name being shouted. It hurt and Jia found herself wanting to do anything that would turn back time, sell her very soul if she must, as she looked upon who was stood in the door way. Who had barked her name in disgust. She shook and quivered, though no one could see her doing so. Her eyes were wide and tears seemed ready to strike a fatal blow at any time.

For, stood in the door way; tall, proud and sinister, was Lady Shuang.


	7. A Task of Life or Death

If there was one thing that Jia had learnt over the last few days it was that letting Lady Shuang find out a secret of yours was the worst move you could make on this chess board. Not two days before she had discovered that Lady Pang was taking quite the interest in Dun's younger brother and that he seemed to return the interest. Lady Shuang had made sure that everyone knew and put them both to unmeasurable shame. That had just been a fancy of each other, nothing more. Now she had found the elder brother and the Princess kissing. She could completely destroy their lives. Found kissing in a room in the imperial palace itself? Scandalous! Death worthy!

"You dare to do such a thing on the very grounds of the palace itself?" Lady Shuang demanded, horrified. She got no answer so she continued, "you are hardly worthy of your status of Princess. Having sex with riff raff like that." Lady Shuang laughed at Jia's look of surprise, "you think we didn't know. Oh my dear all of the four know, if not more. You are unclean already. You cannot marry an imperial prince, or anyone for that matter." Jia shook and, some how, managed to talk.  
"I was 'unclean' by the time I was fourteen, my youngest sister at twelve. I had no choice in the matter." Lady Shuang gave a sharp bark of laughter,  
"No choice?! No choice?!" She gave another sharp bark, "you must have had a choice! It is never not a choice."  
"What do you mean? You seem to be acting like I was allowed to choose whether I was raped or not" Jia did her best to keep her voice calm in response to the barks of laughter. It certainly worked because Lady Shuang stared at her, in shock.  
"You were what?" She asked, blinking, as if clearing his sight might correct her hearing.  
"Raped" Jia answered. No longer able to keep herself calm Jia let the tears in her eyes run. Dun put a gentle hand on her shoulder but she pushed him off and turned to smile at him. A truly tragic sight through her tears.

Lady Shuang seemed to become an entirely different person,  
"I will tell no one of this. A flit of love before being confined to an arranged marriage after such an ordeal is easy pardoned. Please, Xiahou Dun calm her down and then send her to me, I'll just be outside." She the left without another word. Dun stepped in front of Jia and held his arms open for a hug. She dived at him, almost knocking him off his feet, and then sobbed into his shoulder at length. Dun wrapped one arm around her waist and brought his free hand up, gently stroking her hair.  
"It's alright" he whispered softly, kissing her forehead, "just think. The likelihood of you seeing Shu ever again is next to none." Jia nodded into his shoulder,  
"I know. I know. I'm still scared though."  
"I promised you that I'd protect you" he reminded her, resting his chin on her head, "whether I be living or dead. Lord, peasant or neither. I will protect you."  
"Thank you" she mumbled, pulling away and forcing a smile, "I'll be alright now." Dun smiled and kissed her for one last fleeting moment, a hand on her stomach to keep her away less they become locked again.

"I'm sorry, Lady Jia" was the first thing that Lady Shuang said when Jia came out of the room. She blinked a little in surprise, she hadn't expected Lady Shuang to apologise to her.  
“W-What are you sorry for?” Jia asked as she followed Lady Shuang to wherever they were going.  
“For treating you the way I have” Lady Shuang answered, “you don't deserve such treatment.”  
“Well, neither does anyone else” Jia replied, a little confused as to why she was getting the apology. What about Lady Pang and Xiahou Lian? They deserved more of an apology than Jia did, if she deserved one at all. Of course Lady Shuang didn't answer this particular remark and continued in silence.

Everything had to be perfect this time. One wrong mark could offend the Emperor drastically and get them all killed at the worst. This was over the top but it didn't stop it being terrifying. The other choices had been a serious waste of time, as they selected the very first type of make up that they'd put on Jia. She found herself caked in it as a very paranoid Lady Chang and Lady Ma kept going over it to make sure that none of her skin was actually going to show.  
“I'm not even sure why I'm worried” Lady Ma mumbled as she smoothed out yet another layer of white paint they had put on Jia's face, “you're paler than all of us, you could probably get by anyway.”  
“Lady Ma don't say that!” Lady Chang snapped. Yet Jia wrenched her lips apart, glued by the red they'd painted over and over,   
“It's fine, true in fact.”

The fabric round her waist seemed to be far too tight, so tight that she could hardly breath and found herself shaking as she looked in the mirror. This was serene. This was sought after. This was beauty. This was not Jia.   
“I know you don't like it dear” Queen Ma sighed, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder, “but you won't have to do it much more.” King Cai smiled and pulled something from the pocket of his robes,  
“Now, what would a Shan Princess be without her necklace” he smiled. Jia spun and stared at the sun and moon necklace that lay in her Father's hand. This had been passed down from generation to generation to the second child. It was pure gold and had been around since the Hong Bang Dynasty. The rulers of Shan had apparently been goldsmiths who had seen the error of ways and taken the north for themselves. 

King Cai smiled at his daughter's wonderment and laughed a little as he hung the necklace round her neck. She went to hug him but quickly walked back,  
“Perhaps not” she laughed, “you're lucky there's none on your hands.” He laughed,  
“I would not want to disturb the Ladies' hardwork.”  
“Mao” Xia said, poking her head round the door, “can I talk to you?” Jia smiled at her parents and then went to talk to her elder sister.

“I just want to wish you luck” Xia grinned, squeezing her sister's hands, “though I also wish you luck in not marrying anyone from the Imperial court or family.” Jia laughed,  
“Why thank you Chang, though to those who do not know you may as well be wishing me misfortune.”  
“Indeed Mao” Xia smiled, “but I want you to marry someone you love. I was lucky, why should you not be able to do the same?” Jia smiled,  
“Thank you, Chang. I hope we may free Sun not long from now.”  
“We shall, Mao.”

This was it.  
This was it.  
Jia was stood outside the great hall, and she was absolutely terrified. For about five minutes Cao Cao, Li Qi, Yue Jin and Yuan were with her, though Dun was no where in sight.  
“You look very pretty” Qi grinned at her, though he hastily added, “I mean, you were pretty before, it's just you look different.” Jia laughed,  
“It's alright Qi. Thank you.”  
“Unbelievable” Jin muttered, shaking his head while Cao Cao just rolled his eyes while Yuan had a little giggle to himself.  
“I can see why Dun is paying so much attention to you” he laughed, “he'd be a very lucky man to have you.”  
“Yuan!” Cao Cao snapped, “don't make such comments.”  
“Li Qi did” Yuan replied, utterly confused.  
“He was complimenting her. I think Lady Jia has taught us well that compliments like that are hardly compliments” Cao Cao replied, turning away from Yuan in disgust.

“Alright. My Lady, you've got to be calm otherwise you're going to make a right fool of yourself” Lady Pang said, her hands on Jia's shoulders while she stared right at her.   
"Lady Pang don't be so forward" Lady Ma sighed, taking the younger woman's arms and removing her hands from Jia's shoulders, "she is a Princess, not one of us."  
"No, no, I want to be your equal! If anything you are my superiors" Jia insisted. Lady Chang smiled,  
"You only have to act like that now Princess, you are one after all. Once we return home you may treat us as normal."  
"Th-thank you" Jia smiled. Yet her stutter gave away her terror - to which Lady Pang gave her a reminder to keep her head high, but not too high and to be proud, but not to proud.

Jia turned to the doors when given a warning that she would be expected in a few minutes. She messed with the necklace that was tucked safely under her clothes and kept making sure what Dun had given her was securely in her clothes yet did not protrude. If it did...oh they'd surely kill her there and then. She thought of him as her hand brushed over it for the hundredth time. If things went the way she was unhappily aware of then she'd hardly, or even never, see him again. Even at that it wasn't as if she could give him any affection. It didn't suit her but she had become dependant on him, for a breath of happiness that no one else could give.

When the doors finally opened Jia was met by row upon row of stares and gawks. For a single second she froze as she took in her surroundings. The golden walls of the hall, the great white pillars to hold up the ornate roof. The people in a glorious paint box of colours, the ladies who all looked different and the thousands upon thousands of eyes that rested upon her. Her tongue tied itself in a knot as she walked slowly forward. She began to forget the language she had been taught since she could hardly speak her own. The tones too dissimilar, the words too strange. 

Jia's ears seemed intent on betraying her. Was that a whisper? A snicker? An insult? Jia felt her chest constrict and took too loud a breath, seeming to make her chest swell too much. No one else noticed but it took hostage of Jia's mind. The last thing she wanted to do was show herself off, for anyone to think anything to be particularly special about her. The red hair and green eyes was enough, she did not need anyone been drawn to anything else about her. 

Jia could do nothing but shake as she knelt before the emperor, only just able to make it look like as if her forehead did indeed touch the floor. She would hate to stain the emperor's floor with layer upon layer of white paint. He told her to stand and she made sure to say Bixia rather than Ni as she spoke to him. He was surprisingly kind – allowing her to think and mumble to herself as she spoke, acknowledging that this was a second language and it wasn't easy under the pressure of a thousand people to impress. 

“Are your looks common in your homeland, Princess?” He asked, entertained by the young woman's feigned pride in them.  
“Ah, not at all, Bixia, they come from my Mother who is from miles away” Jia answered. She was getting the hang of this, albeit slowly. A few of the court officials had even begun to relax and there were two women having a quiet conversation off in the corner. There was just one person who was watching Jia's every move, down to the very last hair on her head. That was Zhang Rang and she had been warned of this man. He was a eunuch who, as far as what she could draw from Cao Cao's angry ramblings, had far too much power. He was referred to as “Father” by the Emperor and everyone knew the person who was really in control was him.

This fright caught Jia off guard and she stumbled over her words.  
“O-of course, N- Bixia, that is pe-” yet Zhang Rang sprung upon his opportunity and embraced it without a heavy heart.  
“She was going to address the emperor as Ni! Disgraceful!” He roared. Those who had been relaxed all tensed in anticipation while those who had fallen into their own conversation all spun their heads. Now what would happen to the Shan Princess.

Shaking she dropped to her knees again and bowed. It was only thing she could possibly think of to that might just rectify the situation. She apologised for her very small mishap and prayed that it would be accepted. That they might understand, as Ni was easier to remember than Bixia and much more commonly used. Scared her arms would give out she lifted herself slightly to look at the Emperor and waited for his verdict. If he wanted to he could kill her right now.

He stood and told her to kneel up, not to stand but to kneel and to look at him properly.  
“I can see the fear in your eyes, Princess” he stated, “I know simple mistakes like that are easy to make. You do not speak our language as well as we do.” Jia found herself some what relieved. He had understood.  
“Surely, Bixia, this is inexcusable” Zhang Rang tried to intervene. The Emperor turned his head to look at the proxy father and shook his head,  
“Be quiet, Zhang Rang.” He turned back to Jia and suddenly his face was stern,  
“Yet to mistake something as simple of that is proof enough of your character. If you were expecting you may marry anyone within this room who is within my court, then you should be assured that will not happen. And that golden necklace should not be worn in my presence.”

"Father I have brought nothing but shame to our family and country!" Jia cried as her Father tried to tell her that everything was fine. She had torn of the necklace in anger and tossed it at him. King Cai smiled and placed the necklace back around Jia's neck,  
"Even the darkest nights will become day my dear." Jia gave a small smile when the sound of imperial horns soon sounded and everyone rushed into the imperial hall.  
"Jia, stay here" King Cai said, turning round at the door and holding his daughter back. She nodded but Sun, who had been exploring while her sister had been presented to the Emperor, grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her with her. King Cai knew she was there but said nothing. Sun pointed to a ladder that went up onto a roof where a window was placed. With that she could see and hear everything. Jia smiled at her sister and once her Father had disappeared she ran and pulled herself up the ladder and rushed to the window.

"The Shan tribe has launched an attack on our southern borders" the Emperor bellowed.  
"No" Jia whispered, yet it continued.  
"For this treachery, the execution of the King shall be carried out. Now." Jia quickly ran back, jumping off the roof into a cart of hay before scrabbling to her feet and running into the hall. She pulled the dagger she had hidden in her clothes out and ran and skidded across the hall. The two blades classed, just preventing her Father's premature and unneeded death. She pushed the blade away and kicked the executioner.  
"You will not kill my Father for something he has not done!" She shouted, shaking.  
"Mao stop" King Cai hissed.  
"No. Let the girl talk" the Emperor said, getting up and asking, "who did put in this rebellion then?"

"A minister. Minister Shu. He has been causing internal strife by raping my sisters and I. If you insist upon killing someone for this crime I will gladly bring you his head myself." The Emperor laughed,  
"Out for revenge I see. If the rebellion is quelled with the loss of this Minister's head then I shall keep you and your father alive. If you return with no head or an unquelled rebellion then both of you will pay dearly."  
"Of course" Lady Jia bowed, "my only request is that I may have time to travel. As you know Bixia, it takes two weeks of travel one way."  
"You may. You have five weeks. If you don't complete the task in that time, well you know what to expect. No one may help her! Lock up the King! Leave now!"

The King stood and said,  
"The darkest night will always become day" before being led away. Jia's mother and sisters were in tears while Cao Cao, Yuan, Qi, Jin and Dun were all staring in a mix of horror and shock. Jia's expression remained a hard but determined glare but as she turned her back the Emperor called her name and she spun again. He tossed a sheathed sword at her,  
"A dagger that size would be impractical" and she then left without another word.

Jia immediately went to the stables where she stripped off the top layer of her dress so the skirt did not get in the way. She placed it in one of the packs attached to the saddle of the horse. The pure white horse that had been given to her only a few weeks ago.  
"I hope you're up to this" she sighed, patting the horse gently.  
"Jia" said a voice. Jia spun round and found herself to be looking Xiahou Dun.  
"Dun, what are you doing here?" She asked. Yet her answer came when he grabbed her and kissed her roughly. He did eventually slow down and kissed her a little gentler. He gently stroked her back and held her close, even as he pushed her against the wall of the stable he keep his arms around her waist. By the time he pulled away Jia was crying. He smiled lightly and wiped her tears away,  
"I have full faith in you. I know you'll do this."

Now with a clean face, practical clothing and a weapon Jia felt herself again. She felt like the warrior princess that she was born as.  
“My Lady” Lady Pang said, looking terribly upset, “please, come back safe.” Without hesitation Jia hugged Lady Pang,  
“Thank you, Lady Pang, for everything you've done over the last few days. If it is for anyone's sake that I come back and live it is yours.” Lady Pang then burst into tears and hugged back, sobbing into Jia's shoulder.

“Mao!” Shouted a voice and Sun and Xiong came running up to her. She was about to get on her horse but stopped and embraced her two younger siblings as they clashed with her. Queen Ma followed behind them, her movements sluggish as she let the fact she may no longer have a husband or daughter if things could not be done. She forced a tearful smile as she saw her children embracing. Oh if only this had never happened.   
“Sun, this is for you. It's not for me or for Dad. It's for you” Jia whispered, “you're the last one who had to endure that man and I will put a stop to that.” She kissed her younger sister on the cheek and felt a tear slip down her face.  
“Xiong, if something bad happens you have to promise me you'll be the best king ever. Let Mahma be in charge first and then when you're old enough you've got to be better than Bahba, alright?” 

“Mahma, don't cry” Jia smiled as she stood straight again, her eyes falling upon her weeping Mother. She embraced her mother as tightly she had her siblings and let her cry into her shoulder. Her Mother eventually pushed herself out of Jia's arms and reached up to touch her daughter's face.  
“Look at you. You're taller than me now, I hardly noticed. You must come back Jia and live on. I would hate to have to run the country” Queen Ma laughed, wiping away tears.

After the tear filled goodbyes Jia pulled herself up onto her horse and went to the gates of the palace. It was midday and the sun soared over the sky, lighting even the darkest colours and revealing even the furthest reaches.  
“Lady Jia, something on your saddle isn't straight” Yue Jin said, rushing forward and straightening it...as well as dropping a small bag of tea leaves in.  
“You aren't supposed to help me” Jia hissed. Jin laughed,  
“It's only tea, they won't care. I wish you well, Princess.”


	8. The Deaths of Tyrants

The journey to Shan lands wasn't as horrendous as the journey from them. The predicament that had befallen then had passed just before they left for Chang'an, she would be alright for now. She couldn't help but be thankful for Jin as well. He knew she didn't particularly like tea and instead the bag was filled with money, covering it with a few of the dead leaves. She spent as little as she could, baring in mind that she would have to travel two weeks back as well and this time she actually had to sleep. This was nothing though, she'd do anything to get rid of Minister Shu and it wasn't like she was returning to a loveless marriage. Now the Emperor had made his decision Jia knew that she was to marry Xiahou Dun, her Mother had decided that. Yes, with that on her mind, she'd do anything to rid herself of Minister Shu.

This wasn't just for herself of course, it was for Sun. She and Xia had escaped Minister Shu yet Sun was doomed to him for another two years if she did nothing. Sun had always been the baby of the family, even when Xiong arrived. Jia and Xia had dooted on their little sister, making sure she always got what she wanted - within reason that was, she'd get a stern telling off if she tried anything more. The two had certainly done their best to keep her out of the clutches of Minister Shu but it hadn't always been doable. Sun was 12 when this had begun and hadn't even been taught about marriage before it was inflicted upon her. Jia could remember the anger boiling up inside her when Sun had run into her room, bleeding and crying. It was still there and it made her tense as she remembered how much she hated Minister Shu. He always seemed so rough with Sun.

Yet despite all this she couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as she wondered through the capital city. The guards still knew her face so she was ignored and allowed to continue. She left her horse with the stable boy and then walked her way up to the palace. Wondering the main road of the city brought back all sorts of memories. She could smell the hot food being sold and taste the herbs they burnt to keep the houses from smelling. The shouts of children rang in her ears and the endless colours of the dresses the women wore, accented by the golden glint of the sun.

No one here seemed to turn a head in her direction, no one knew her face except the guards and the officials in the palace. King Cai had always been a paranoid man and kept his daughters out of most men's eye, not that it had helped. For a moment Jia found herself rather upset by this. The people aught to know who she was, she was the Princess after all. It was her job to look after them. Though once this fleeting moment was over she realised she was being ridiculous. She didn't have to be known just because she was King Cai's daughter. She didn't make any important decisions, she didn't matter to them. Perhaps she should be glad of that, she did like her privacy sometimes after all.

Much to her surprise someone came rushing towards her just as she reached the steps to the palace. Yet she was even more surprised to see who it was.  
"Shao Wang? Is that you" she called.  
"Mao!" He called back and as he collided with her wrapped her in a tight hug and kissed her on the cheek. Jia stared and touched his face, gently cupping his cheek. Gently she ran her fingers down his smooth skin, surprised yes to also feeling relieved beyond measure.  
"You're...you're alive" she mumbled, her eyes still wide in shock. He frowned at her,  
"Of course I'm alive" he replied, rubbing his cheek against her hand, "your hand doesn't go through it, does it?"  
"They told me you died defending against the Ci" Jia mumbled. He frowned again,  
"We never were at war with the Ci. Oh well, doesn't matter." 

Jia and Wang ate in privacy together that night and Jia completely forgot about Dun. She had always loved Shao Wang. The two had been introduced when only a few days old and had been friends since. By the time they were teenagers everyone was very much assured the two would get married and by 15 had been caught together numerous times. As well as this Shao Wang had been the only person, other than her sisters and father, who had known what Minister Shu was doing.

Once they were done eating Wang had wine brought to them and they drank away the night.  
"What are the Han like?" He asked, running a hand down her back and a perhaps just a little lower.  
"Most of them are alright I suppose" Jia sighed. He smiled,  
"Then you have been in safe hands and no one has done what the minister has?"  
"I have been in safe hands" Jia nodded, laughing, "and I am in even safer hands when with you." She pressed her palm to his as she spoke and then interlocked their hands.   
"Princess Jia" he whispered softly in her ear, "for a year now I have waited. We are finally in privacy, might we?"  
"Of course Lord Shao" Jia replied.

Dun completely left Jia's mind as she kissed and touched and was kissed and touched. She did not miss him or pine for him. She was happy with who was paying attention to every last detail now. Who's name she was moaning while her hands were all tangled up in his hair. Who was prioritising her over everything else. Who was making sure she was happy and in comfort all the time. Who loved her all the more with every breath they took and every word they spoke. This was the person she truly wanted to marry.

"Why must you leave again" he mumbled, tipping Jia's face to the side and sucking on her neck. Jia grabbed his arm and he sucked harder still.  
"I wish I could stay" she reassured him when he decided the mark on her neck was big enough. He rested his head on her chest and she gently stroked his hair. Jia knew that there was no rebellion, she had known before she even crossed the border, so she could lie in peace. Still she was going to get rid of Minister Shu.

So late into the night Jia gently slipped out of Shao Wang's arms. He awoke immediately,  
"Where are you going?"   
"Shh, shh" Jia smiled, "it's no where important. Just go back to sleep." He sighed softly and closed his eyes but returned the lengthy kiss she placed on his lips. She dressed herself in the prettiest clothes she had. Minister Shu knew she was here of course and she had found it to be a lie that he was in the far south. Everything was getting a little suspicious now but when it came to Minister Shu Jia just could not care in the slightest. He was a despicable man and this was her chance to get rid of him, nothing was going to stop her taking the chance.

So, leaving Wang to sleep, she slipped out into the dark corridors, the sword Emperor Ling had given her hidden under the long outer layer she was wearing. Not a sound could be heard as she crept about the great corridors. She crept about her home in silence and nothing made her more glad than still knowing every brick that had been laid. She took her time to stare at the hangings on the wall, gifts from her family in Woxia. One of them was personally made by King Dai himself. It depicted the entire red haired family, all 16 of them, all expertly sown by the king. It was odd, that he had been allowed to make it, he had only been a Prince when the marriage was agreed so surely he wouldn't even be allowed to touch thread.

The one thing that surprised Jia was that Minister Shu hadn't come after her yet. He should have, now felt the right time, the time Jia was most scared. Perhaps he had finally become to old for it, he was in his forties after all, it would be hardly surprising. Still, at least it gave her more time to admire the ha-

Jia screamed as she was slammed against the wall, her scream muffled by a hand. The sword hidden under her clothes clashed with the wall and stuck out, just waiting to be noticed.   
“Why, why Princess, hasn't it been a long time” hissed a voice in her ear, they slowly drew their hand away from her mouth as they spoke only to grab the back of her neck and tip her head back as they pressed her harder against the wall.  
“Get off me Hui” she choked, even though it hurt she tried to get out of his grip, “to think you would take up your Father's atrocious ways.” Hui hit Jia's head against the wall, not knocking her out but leaving her dizzy and unable to react as quickly.  
“Be careful what you say Princess” he hissed in her ear, “Mama and Papa aren't here to protect you now.”

Jia decided the best plan was to let Hui do what he wanted. If he was relaxed he'd be easier to distract and strike with the sword. Jia pretended to cry quietly and kept cursing him as he did as he pleased. Yet for a second he let go of her and that proved to be his down fall, he clearly didn't know just how fast the warrior princess could move. Jia spun as a dancer would and tore the sword from it's sheath. Hui attempted to grab it from her in the panic and Jia swung it down at a chance and cut off his hand. He screamed a piercing shriek, ringing the glass around them and calling all to see. Jia took this added confusion to her advantage and beheaded Hui, drenching herself in yet more blood. 

“So, the Warrior Princess has finally struck” laughed the voice of Minister Shu, “and now your parents aren't here I can finally get rid of you.” Jia was shaking but he held the sword up and pointed at him,  
“Come any closer and I'll kill you!” He laughed,  
“I think you'll find you have murdered someone Princess, you shall be the one to die by my hands, not I by yours.”  
“Shut up!” Jia snapped, losing anything good to say, terrified by what she had done. Shu laughed again,  
“Finally rid of you! It's a shame, I shall miss my favourite” he chortled.

Jia snapped. Her fear was smashed into a thousand pieces by her intense anger towards the man. For everything he had done. Destroying Xia's will to live. Destroying Sun's innocence. Destroying her Father's peaceful kingdom.   
“I WILL NOT LET YOU DESTROY ANYTHING ELSE CLOSE TO ME” she roared. She ran forward and swung the sword, only for him to dodge it.  
“Oh dear Princess, the people will be coming soon!” Shu laughed, enjoying the finale of his two year long game. Jia swung again, her anger making her swings useless and he continued to taunt her.  
“You will die a murderer!” He called and finally it was done.

Jia swung and Shu did not quite move quick enough, his evil tongue working quicker than his useless feet. It did not cut clean however and Shu fell to his knees, his jugular half torn out. Jia hacked and hacked and hacked until finally the final thread came free and the head fell with a crash to the floor. Jia, still shaking, dropped the sword and it clattered against the floor, soon followed by the thump of her knees.

There had been no real fight to fight but she was drenched in the spoils of war, as was the floor around her. It was in her hair, stained her clothes and washed her skin. She had won. She had won the battle that had raged in her mind for two years. She had won. Now Sun could return happy, she might sleep a night and Xia would no longer feel as tainted. They could smile again.

“Mao!” Shouted a voice.  
“Shao Wang” roared another voice. There was a sudden clash of swords.  
“Dammit Lu” Wang shouted back, “I thought you were the one who wasn't in the wrong!”  
“She killed my brother and Father, how dare you think that I may act in the lie you call the right!” Lu barked. Their voices stopped and only the sound of swords clashing continued, echoing about the corridor that already reeked of death.

“Minister Lu” Jia muttered, standing slowly and shakily, “stop, the both of you. Please.” Having being caught in a lock for a while the two slowly withdrew and turned to her.  
“Minister?” Lu asked, frowning at her, “what madness has had you call me that?”  
“It may take some time to explain” Jia replied, “I am more curious about whether you know what they did.”  
“What do you mean” Lu glared, hate suddenly welling up inside him. The only thing stopping him killing her right now was the fact Shao Wang was stood right next to him.  
“You know what they have done is punishable by death in our society and it is neither murder or treason” Jia answered.

Lu took a step back and placed his sword on the ground. For a second he stood and stared before collapsing.  
“Minister Lu!” Wang said in surprise but there was no more time as a sudden stampede began of court officials, noble ladies and just about everyone. At the front of this gathering crowd were the two people who had looked after Jia for the majority of her life.  
“Princess” the old woman cawed.  
“Mao did you do this?” Her best friend asked. Jia just plainly nodded.

A roar of outrage flared up, no longer allowing anything to echo about the death stained hall. People chorused for the death of the killer and Jia shrank away, knowing that perhaps she had done wrong, that she should have carried on letting Shu do what he did. She was in the wrong. She was in the wrong. She was in the wrong. There had been no rebellion, she had just killed him and Hui out of spite for what they'd done to her and her sisters. She was in the wrong.

“Silence!” Screeched the young voice of Minister Lu. He had stood up again and after doing so kicked his sword across the corridor. The noise was pierced as it clattered across the floors and then hit a table and smashed a vase. Everyone turned to look at the young man in surprise – it appeared as if he was defend his family's killer...and he was.  
“Stop demanding the death for someone who has done right. My father and brother were despicable men. They have murdered the inconvenient, stolen their lands and money and have raped our Princesses. Princess Jia has not done wrong.” 

Everyone stood stunned. Shu and Hui had always appeared quite agreeable and had never come across as how Lu had described them. However, Chan, Jia's best friend, slowly walked forward and held her hand out to Jia, who still looked petrified. Jia stared at her, looking at her hand and then back at Chan's face. She was smiling and nodded to her.  
“Come on, Princess, don't you need cleaning up?”


	9. Blood Is Thicker Than Water

However Minister Lu did not let the blood soaked Princess go. He walked to her and helped her up and kept hold of her until she no longer shook and looked as if she would fall. He then stepped away and bowed to her, raising his head as he said,  
“All hail the new Queen! Queen Pei Shi Xiang!” Jia blinked a little in surprise, her body too tired and her mind too shaken to do much else, as everyone copied Lu.

“All of you, stand straight” Jia said, “please, rest yourselves, it is the middle of the night. It can be sorted and declared in the morning.”Everyone, granted a little apprehensively, left, excluding the two women who had looked after Jia, Lu and Shao Wang. She immediately turned to Lu,  
“What exactly possessed you to declare me Queen?” She demanded.  
“You know what your Father's up to” Lu answered, “he's poison to this country. You seem to quite like the Han.”  
“Minister Lu exactly who the hell is going to listen to me? I'm a woman for a start, I have a brother who is the actual heir and most importantly my Father is still alive” Jia reminded him.  
“That is true, but your Father and this kingdom have no element of trust between them. He has told you enough lies. He set my brother and Father to the disipicable work they did, that includes what happened to you, Xia and Sun. He made sure it became harder to live so he could get what he wanted. Queen Xiang your father is really not the great man you've been led to believe he is.” All the information was a little hard for Jia to take in.  
“Minister Lu we will discuss this later” she said, “for now I want the bodies cleared but keep the heads. Prepare them so they may survive a two week journey, I have no intention of returning to Han just yet.”

Chan and her Grandmother then dragged Jia off to the bath.  
“Look at the state of you!” Nanni snapped, “you're covered in blood, and they're your nicest clothes!”  
“Nanni you can't talk to her like that any more, she's the Queen!” Chan snapped back. Jia gave a weak laugh,  
“It's alright, I want you to treat me just as you have before. The Han were complicated enough.” Chan gave a disgruntled sigh and nodded,  
“Alright then Jia, we'll do just that” Nanni grinned.

“So, what is Han like?” Chan asked Jia, braiding the new Queen's hair slowly.  
“It's...it's...complex. You can make the slightest wrong move and you're dead, just like that. I know what Minister Lu said but at least Father wasn't quite as strict. I know it won't happen now but when they were expecting I'd marry someone from the Han Court and I was talking to the Emperor I almost said the wrong word for you and now I can never marry anyone from the Imperial court. Suits me fine, they all seemed like stuck up toffs.” Chan laughed,  
“That's just how you usually are! What are the men like, were there any good looking ones?”  
“If that's one thing the Han have got it's that” Jia sighed, putting on an overly dreamy, “there were plenty, one for every woman in our land!”

Han hurt like hell. Jia was left in her rooms and, much to her own surprise, did not sneak into Shao Wang's rooms as she had previously intended. She felt as if she had betrayed...well not necessarily Han but the people she'd met there. She wondered if the money Yue Jin had given her was out of his own pocket. What about the archery competition that Yuan had challenged her to? Or perhaps the game that Cao Cao was going to teach her? Had Li Qi and his wife's baby arrived yet? Was Lady Pang now able to be with Xiahou Lian? Had Lady Shuang stopped being so malevolent and become a kind soul whom everyone loved? Did Dun miss her?

Jia sighed as this thought crossed her mind and pulled her knees up to her chin. Did he miss her? Had she even crossed his mind since she'd been gone? She wasn't even the same person any more. She was just like him now. Hui had...never really done anything, Minister Lu had over exaggerated so they didn't kill their new Queen. Hui had just been about as power hungry as every other man out there, which was a surprising amount still. He had been the same age as Xia and due to this had mixed about with the Princesses quite often. He wasn't all that bad until he started getting a bit weird around Xia and even then, what he had done had never quite compared to what Minister Shu had done.

Jia sighed again and tipped herself back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.  
“Queen Pei Shi Xiang” she whispered, placing her hand on her heart. Jia, having been told what she had about her Father, knew exactly what she was going to do. She wasn't going to stand for it, and hoped that what had happened may just turn her sisters and possibly even her Mother against him. If she raised an army, which didn't look too hard if things went to plan, and got rid of her Father then she could rule the country much more fairly than her Father had...even if it meant displacing her brother.

“Mao” said a soft voice. Jia jumped and rolled over. She smiled lightly,  
“Hello Wang.” He smiled back and came and sat by her, taking to gently stroking her hair.  
“Are you alright?” He asked this as he gently ran his fingers through her wavy hair that Chan had worked on while they laughed at the gorgeous men of Han. Dun had gone completely unmentioned.  
“I'm fine, I think so anyway” Jia sighed. Wang smiled softly and ran the back of his forefinger down her cheek,  
“It'll be alright. A lots happened tonight” he stopped and leant down, kissing her forehead gently, “you've done amazing...Your Majesty.” 

Wang kissed Jia gently and asked,  
“What will you do then, now you're Queen?” Jia sighed,  
“I'll have to get rid of Father” she paused for a moment to see if Wang would react in any particular way, “but I don't want to do anything to my brother, he's only 5 after all.” Wang sighed as well and pulled her close, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair gently.  
“I won't do anything to him. I...I'll name him my heir, act as regent for as long as I can. Perhaps making him just a figure head” Jia mumbled.  
“You can't, that would make you Queen Dowager and your Mother Grand Queen Dowager, after all we essentially stole the system from Han, she'll have all the power and she will want Xiong on the throne” Wang warned her.

“I don't want to do this” Jia mumbled into his chest, “why did Minister Lu just give me the title. None of this had to happen!”  
“Because Minister Lu doesn't want your Father ruling any more. We've talked about it numerous times, we've known for a long time, about what he's been doing. Minister Lu has actually been scheming to get rid of King Cai since he took his position at court” Wang explained, “he thinks you're the only one he can really pass off as being different, he'll probably do his best to rule from behind the scenes, though he knows that you're far too stubborn to let him do everything.”

“They can't hurt Xiong though, he's only five” Jia mumbled, using Shao Wang's warmth as comfort.  
“They might have to Jia, he'll be the biggest threat to the country” Wang sighed, “these things happen in the world we live in.”  
“But if we teach him right” Jia started.  
“No, it doesn't matter how we teach him Jia, he will know and he will hate you” Wang snapped. Jia burst into tears, choking on her words,  
“But he's only five! He's practically a toddler!” Wang hugged her tighter to her chest, squashing her against him, he didn't have any words to comfort her.

It took a great deal of time but eventually Jia fell asleep – though this was hardly the end of her troubles. She was unfamiliar with the feeling of having someone genuinely planning out her life, she'd always had a little freedom and this had been even further enforced when she'd joined Cao Cao. Now it was all controlled. Minister Lu was going to decide everything for her. If he really wanted he could now easily overthrow the ruling Shan Dynasty – as the family had founded the country they had named the Dynasty the same – and instate his own and it wasn't like he'd be without an heir either, he already had a one year old son.

Jia knew exactly who Lu would want her to marry though, and that was reassuring at least. Jia knew full well that Lu would have her marry Shao Wang, it would not only keep him in his powerful position and provide them with constant military support but it would keep his family, who in their own right were almost as powerful as the ruling family, in their place. At least, through all of this political nonsense she was marrying someone she loved. Yet still...something nagged her. Dun had taken such good care of her and had stopped that arrow that her Mother had shot. It felt wrong to give him up completely out of the blue and anyway, he was expecting her to come back.

One of the people at the forefront of Jia's mind was Lady Pang. She wondered if the woman had finally been allowed to have her moments with Xiahou Lian in peace, without Lady Shuang butting in. Lady Pang, though all of them had certainly been kind, had been the most wonderful woman out of them. One of the reasons Jia wanted to go back was because of Lady Pang, they had become such good friends that it felt wrong to leave her. Jia had loved the little things about her, how she danced rather than walked and sang rather than talked and grinned rather than smiled. If there was anyone Jia was going to consider a best friend it was most definitely Pang Li. 

When Lady Jia woke next morning Shao Wang had disappeared and she was alone – except for Chan and Nanni.  
“Rise and shine your majesty!” Chan giggled, “it's your first day as Queen!” Jia yawned and rubbed her eyes, smiling a little,  
“Good morning to you too Chan, Morning Nanni.” Nanni beamed at her and helped Jia get up and out of bed. 

“Your Majesty” shouted a voice. Jia had been put in the regal clothes that her mother wore and found they were horribly weighty, the headdress even worse than the dress. It felt as if her neck would break. At the shout Jia spun to see a young messenger running to her. He was Shan-Han by the looks of it.  
“Is something the matter?” Jia asked, smiling at him as he came to a standstill only a meter or so from her. He grinned and held out a letter to her,  
“It's from a Han man.” A few passing heads turned as this was said and Jia prayed she had not gone red, not that praying would do much good with this kind of thing.

Once the young messenger had run off again Jia flicked the letter open. She was expecting, as he was the court official, it would be from Cao Cao but she was very much in the wrong. It was from Xiahou Dun. 

Princess,  
I hope this reaches you safely and does not run ahead of you. 

You've been the talk of the court for the last day and, even though I know it will be two weeks a lie, I thought I aught to tell you. I imagine that soon you, or just the head, shall be returning.

Your Mother told me of your lover, Shao Wang, she thought it best seen as she promised me your hand. I'll assume you know that he is alive. Jia, Princess, if you wish to stay and marry him instead and you are allowed to, then please do so. You would be happier married to him than me, after all you have a long history together. Just if you do, write to me, okay? I'll always happily take you if all goes wrong.

Xiahou Dun

(Oh and Li Qi and his wife's child has been born, Yue Jin has demanded you never pay him back and my brother and Lady Pang may be getting engaged. I miss you.)

Jia gave a gentle sigh and tucked the letter away in one of the many layers of the dress she was wearing. Oh bless him, for all his anger he was a sweet man.   
“Are you alright, your Majesty” asked a voice.  
“General Shao if you dare call me that when no one is here” Jia smiled, turning around and smiling at the general. He laughed and offered his arm to her, which she took, the ridiculous headdress making her appear to equal his height.  
“What shall it be today then? Laws? Officials?” He smiled as they walked along the golden corridors, so small but so expensive.

“What was that anyway?” He asked, “that you were tucking away, I heard talk of it being from a Han man.” Jia gave a...well, awkward laugh at best,  
“Just someone I met while with Han, he was merely hoping that I'd arrived safe.”   
“Will you be writing back?” Wang asked, squeezing her arm perhaps a little too tight. At this Jia snatched her arm away and glared at him,  
“What would it matter?” She snapped.  
“Well, corresponding with the enemy” Wang answered, looking away.  
“The enemy?! General, I'd like to keep the Han as allies thank you. The enemy is not the Han for now, it is our own ruling family.”

“What will you do then. You cannot just rename the Dynasty, you are the ruling King's daughter after all” Wang asked, frowning at Jia.  
“I'll cross that bridge when I get to it” Jia snapped. He was rather stunned by her sudden outburst and didn't like her protectiveness over than Han man, what had he ever done for her? It was hardly likely that he'd treated her any better than Minister Shu had, he'd heard Han men were like that. If being made Queen had turned her so arrogant that he would more than happily side with King Cai when he got back.

Jia had been right in her prediction meanwhile as Minister Lu called her aside when she happened to pass the room he had secluded himself in. It was very dark, lit only by a few candles and how he could sit and write and read for hours in here was a mystery to her.  
“Queen Xiang” he started, his business like sigh not easy to keep a straight face at, “I know this is quick but it's needed. We need to bind the Shao family to us and soon. If your parents return, however much it may go against Shao Wang's wishes, they will side with King Cai and Pei Ma Shi.”  
“So you want to marry me to Shao Wang?” Jia asked. Minister Lu nodded,  
“And Lady Chan to his elder brother, Jian.”  
“Lady?” Jia asked, perplexed, last time she checked Chan was definitely just a servant girl.  
“I assumed that as you've been friends for so long you'd appoint her as your first Lady” Lu stuttered, “if that's not the case then I can cha-”  
“No, no, it is” Jia laughed, “you merely surprised me.”

From there on everything was done in hurry and Jia hated that. Though being some what fearful of marriage part of her and always, without question, looked forward to her wedding day. However far back in history she seemed to go it was always the dream of every girl. To have a pretty dress and look all fancy, with lots of flowers and drinking and dancing and all of that. That's what Jia wanted, of course she didn't, scratch putting it to just her gender, who didn't want that? 

Jia had always wanted, though doubtful of being able to have it, a fusion of tradition from the culture she had grown up in and that which her Mother had. Traditions were so different a million miles away that she wanted to shock everyone in a way, anyway even if it was something small that could probably go unnoticed she still wanted it. Now she couldn't even go by the traditions that were within what she had grown up in. Her parents were not there so all but the ceremony that actually married the two was left out.

She knew the reason why everything was so hastily done all of a sudden. By the time Jia and Wang had been married only 3 days the heads would have arrived at the Han court, along with the two lords from the south who, for a large sum of money, had agreed to go and report the situation. This would allow her family to come home without Jia having to go back herself. There was no rebellion to fight any more. No, this time she was going to be the one leading the rebellion and she would be fighting against what was right.

As the two weeks passed Jia found herself dreading the day they returned more and more. She couldn't imagine the look on her Mother's face. The look of hatred so swiftly followed by that of disbelief and utter betrayal. Jia wanted her Mother on her side, that went without saying. Yet she knew, she some how knew, that wasn't going to happen. With her Mother's past of bloodshed came more loyalty than the best of man's best friend. Her Mother was too stubborn to leave King Cai and Jia could feel the hate welling inside of her each time she thought of it. Yet she knew it was just going to be the case that Queen Pei Ma Shi was not going to listen to her daughter.

As the two weeks passed the army was gathered. Now wanting to protect their influence on the crown the Shao family had gladly given all they could spare to their second son to use. Yet once again Jia felt too conflicted for her to give an official approval.  
“Queen Xiang!” Minister Lu snapped, “if you do not make a decision soon then Han may well get involved!”  
“I do not want my siblings killed” Jia snapped back, glaring at him, “if they die then I will surrender to the Han, just like that.”  
“Please, Jia, this is a matter of more than just them. There are no doubts there will be others killed in this” Shao Bai attempted to reason with her. Jia sighed,  
“If we kill them, we will lose allies. I do not want to lose my most valuable assets because people see me as a murderer. Yes my Father, I will gladly expose and kill but if I kill the rest of my family then all people are going to see is a Bloody Queen. Keep my family alive.”


	10. Battle of Dai Kan Pass

Yet the day this army was put to use came too soon for Jia's liking. Never would have been very much to her liking. They set up camp just outside of Dai Kan pass and waited. It was the main route that people took between the Shan and Han, as the other two were heavily guarded by tribes that, while under the Shan, were not too pleased about it and were in constant rebellion by killing any who tried to travel between the two. Well...they had been under the Shan, Jia had declared them independent from Shan but had asked that they become allies while they disposed of King Cai. 

The view surrounding Dai Kan pass was beautiful, the hills were a perfect mix of grey and green and trees seemed to have descended from the heavens in clumps, placed by a majestic Goddess. Birds flew about in elaborate dances, singing their language to one another as they crossed paths. This was not the place for bloodshed.   
“They have very few, only 1000. Your Father took Pan Xiang and his most skilled unit with him as you know, so while we will vastly outnumber them in terms of skill we hardly have anything” Minister Lu sighed, “but, massive numbers tend to damage moral.”

“Is there anyway we can have General Pan Xiang defect?” Jia asked, studying the map closely. A scout had gone out and spotted Jia's family returning. There were three predicted routes they would take and, while it had been suggested, both Lu and Jia had advised against ambush units. They were still in Han land and if they dared send a single armed soldier over there they were dead. All of them, whether they be rebel or not.  
“It's unlikely. He and his family have depended on the Shan Dynasty since it's dawn” Shao Wang sighed.  
“It's also worthy to note that Pan Xiang is married to the Queen's niece, it would be horribly cruel to betray them” Minister Lu reminded them, wandering in, buckling his sword to his belt. Jia gave a sigh,  
“This will be a chore then.”

With the true rulers of Shan expected to cross the pass in two days time Jia could feel herself once again being consumed by self hate and hate for others around her. She hated Minister Lu for declaring her Queen. She hated Shao Wang and his family for going along with it. She hated herself for going along with it. For not denying the crown. For being a threat to the parents and siblings who had loved her day in and day out without fault. 

Shao Wang did his best to fix this. He took Jia to stargaze on one of the lower hills, bringing wine and food as well.  
“I missed this” Jia sighed, sitting on the grass and hugging her knees. She hardly looked a Queen. She had discarded her small crown and let her hair fall from the ridiculous it was put in every morning by her first Lady. Her clothes were simply and light, not heavy with multiple layers, neither were they elaborate colours, just a plain dark blue. She hardly looked like Queen Xiang but she certainly looked like Jia. 

“Look! That one looks like a bear!” Jia giggled, pointing at the sky and drawing the shape with her finger. Shao Wang smiled, turning his head to study her. Her hair was now a mess, she was lying on her back and laughing with joy as she stared at the stars above. Her green eyes seemed to light up and absorb all of the stars' light for themselves while her skin stole the moon's, so pale against the night sky.  
“I hope you don't mind me disturbing your view of the stars” he sighed, taking her hand and gently squeezing. She turned to him, looking innocently surprised,  
“What do you mean?” He smiled softly and let go of her hand, slowly pushing himself up and then leaning over her. Jia looked a little surprised and stared with her starry eyes but a gentle smile crossed her face.

He was gentle with Jia, of course he was, he couldn't be anything but gentle with her.   
“You know, I've always thought having sex under the stars would never happen” Jia sighed, squeezing Shao Wang's hand gently, “but that was amazing.” Shao Wang laughed,  
“I'm glad you think so.” He leant over and kissed her, soft and gentle now rather than rough and some what forceful. Yet Jia gave a sad sigh and looked away. Shao Wang frowned and sat up a little, slipping his hand underneath her hips and gently rubbing her back that had arched a little.  
“What's wrong?” He asked, making sure his voice contained no trace of laughter. He knew she was going to tell him something that she had kept secret for a while now.

Jia seemed to mull over it a little, not daring to make any kind of eye contact. She thought he would have noticed. She had begun to put weight on, not much but Shao Wang seemed to notice everything before everyone else. He'd also said nothing about the fact she'd not complained of pains over a week in which she'd been in a constant state of nausea. It had come from time to time but it didn't hold any consistency. So, thinking that perhaps it was time to tell him, Jia took a deep breath, turned to look at him and said,  
“Wang, I'm pregnant.” 

“Oh...” Wang sighed. This was possibly the worst thing that could happen. It had been a lingering thought that, should things become too dangerous, his family would drag him away from Shan and back up the rightful rulers. Now this had happened he wasn't exactly sure how he could possibly leave Jia on her own. Yet he had no time to think about this as Jia burst into tears and suddenly clung to him for some form of reassurance. He sat them up and wrapped one arm around Jia's waist and put the other around her shoulder, his hand holding her head gently. That was his conclusion actually, whatever they did he was never going to leave Jia on her own.

The next day came and went, with no signs of the royal family at all and Jia finally decided what she wanted to do with her siblings and Mother.  
“I want you to capture them” she decided, much more pulled together than she had been the night before, “and to kill all of their attendants. My Mother can easily reach out to King Dai and the Woxia, that is the last thing we need, they have too many allies who could easily crush us.”  
“What about the Prince, Queen Xiang?” Shao Jian asked. Jia sighed,  
“I want him captured, I don't want him dead. My threat of surrender remains if any of them are killed, on purpose or by accident.”  
“Queen Xiang, they'll kill you if you do that!” Shao Wang snapped. Jia gave a second, slightly sadder sigh,  
“Lets hope I can hold out for long enough then.”

“The Queen is being...problematic” Minister Lu sighed, walking up to Shao Wang who was stood on the same hill, staring across the landscape.  
“I can't blame her. Minister Lu this is her family, they're all that's kept her alive over the last two years, be a little kinder to the poor woman” Shao Wang snapped, “perhaps if you had let your hatred of King Cai go then Jia might not be “problematic” and bothersome for your scheme to grab power!” Minister Lu laughed,  
“How could you know Shao Wang?” He roared, “how could you have known?”  
“Because you're manipulating her. You're telling her that her Father did all of this and you're lying. Let her reject her title and be a Princess again” Shao Wang answered.  
“Oh, Shao Wang, you know I simply cannot do that” Lu chuckled, “good bye.”

At midday the following day it finally happened. The first of the entourage for the royals could be seen and the horn sounded for those in wait to ready themselves. Jia was forced to stay in the tent that was at the furthest point from the pass with it still in sight.  
“No, you have to stay” Shao Wang insisted, leading the protesting Queen back to the tent.  
“I want to lead the troops. I need to, I can't be just a figure head” Jia argued.  
“Jia you don't just have yourself to look after any more” Shao Wang reminded her, sitting her down, “you need to look after your heir.” He kissed her softly,  
“Everything will be fine, it's 10 to 1 out there, we'll chase them off just like you said.”

Jia was left with nothing to do but sit and watch from the tent. She could see them on the pass like ants, so far away yet so close to death. So close to an unfair, unneeded death, just because her Father was such an awful man. It didn't seem plausible that he had ever done such a thing but she'd experienced enough to know that it was useless trusting many people, especially people with more power than you had. In fact she wasn't even that surprised, she knew what he had done was probably completely understandable. Power hungry bastard.

The three units that were to be used were all headed by three very important men in the new Shan. They were: Shao Wang; Minister Lu; and Xu Shan. Shao Wang had been declared leader of the army not long before they were married by Jia, people saw it as only right. They were still a rebel state. Minister Lu had taken his Father's place gladly, he was plotting continuously, making sure he could always manipulate Jia in some way or another. He was determined to kill off the entire Shan Dynasty and replace it with his own family.

Xu Shan was a whole other story. He was a mystery to all those who didn't know him and not a lot of people knew him. He kept himself to himself yet he had suddenly been put in charge of 1000 men. He had been honoured with this because at the rare times he did speak he was a genius. He had been the one to warn Minister Lu and the Queen of the threat the Woxia possessed and had been the one to formally send out the messengers, asking for alliance terms which each and every one of the Woxia's allies. Yet his true brilliance was yet to show.  
As the ants grew into silhouettes the men readied their charge. Jia was dragged from the seat she had taken to look out over the valley by Chan, choking on her tears.  
“Mao...you can call this off, remember” Chan reminded her, taking Jia's hands and squeezing them tightly, “you don't have to do this.” Jia gave a sigh and took a couple of deep breaths, hoping the air would pass the lump in her throat that stung.  
“No, I have to do what's right.” Chan grabbed Jia's shoulders,  
“But what if it's not?! You should know that Minister Lu doesn't like King Cai, what if he's lying to you!” Jia shook her head,  
“I'd like to think the people of Shan were not that blind.” So Jia took the staff from the table next to her and waited for Lu's signal that they were indeed close enough. He lifted his hand and put all of his fingers down. They waited with baited breath, for one to act. Lu slowly extended his fingers and Jia cast the staff forward.

Shao Wang and Lu's units charged forward immediately while Xun Shan just...waited. He then turned his horse and lead the troops into the forest by the camp they had made. They rode neither quckily or slowly, they varied their speed. Xun Shan judged it by the noise that he could hear. For now it sounded if they had clashed in the river. He picked up the pace at that point, he knew that if he got there quick enough he could surround them and capture the entire family. 

As the melee ensured in the river Shao Wang did his very best to stay out of the way of Pan Xiang. He was a giant of a man with a sword also as high as he was, how he managed to wield the damn thing would have been a mystery if it hadn't been for the muscle encrusted arms he had. It was said he could crush helmeted skulls with just his fist...this was probably a lie but there was already enough to put Shao Wang off getting too close to him.

Lu passed the General, cutting through a few of the enemy soldiers as he did.  
“We need to push them onto the river bank” he hissed before spinning and stabbing another in the stomach. Shao Wang was in a deadlock with one and was furiously pushing against him, hoping that he might over power him.  
“How do you propose we do that” Shao Wang yelled back, his arm straightening just a little.  
“Just keep pushing, we're hardly far away. Send 100 around to the right of them, it may help. Go with them, it will reduce their moral even more, I'll handle your forces” Lu answered.  
“If you say so” Shao muttered, his arm finally straightening out as he sent the soldier flying back. He quickly cut off his head and then set about gathering 100 of his men together.

They retreated back to the river bank before rushing at the enemy a fury of swords and axes and spears, splashing across the water. Seeing a blood covered Shao Wang at the head of this scared the enemy witless and had them turning tail faster than a hunted deer. They continued to chase them back, further and further, cutting down anyone who was left behind. The water they fought in was no longer clear but an ugly red colour. Shao Wang was sure that Jia's hair was going to be redder when he returned to her.

Just as Shao Wang's 100 men pushed back the remnants of the forces Lu's own men caught up and they were finally encircled by the appearance of Xun Shan. King Cai, fearing only for his own life, turned his horse and lifted his sword, galloping his way through the men, both his own and Xun Shao's. He cut down any in his way and rode off into the distance.  
“Cowards” Shao Wang hissed as he watched Pan Xiang and one of the other generals do very much the same. Lu then gave the orders,  
“We shall retreat once the rest of the family have been taken. Do not kill them!”

“My lady” Chan said to Jia when she saw them beginning to return. Jia lifted her head and sighed,  
“Then, we really are at war. They're covered in blood.” Jia stood and went to her horse, though now she felt as if she had stolen it from Han. She shook her head a little, willing the thought to leave, as she patted the horse gently before getting up onto it.  
“J-Jia! Surely you can't” Chan stuttered, getting up and grabbing Jia's arm. Jia sighed and pushed Chan's hand off slowly,  
“It'll be alright” she smiled, “I'll just have to be slow.” Chan reached out her hand again but snatched it back,  
“Be careful, Jia.” Jia gave a little smile before beginning to make her way painfully slowly to the returning army.

Jia arrived to see her sisters being dragged along by two soldiers and she snapped immediately, she got down off the horse and demanded that they be left alone. While Sun, once freed, rushed to her sister and burst into tears and clung to her Xia stared at her, anger and distrust on her face.  
“Why did you do it” Xia asked. No answer. Xia repeated her question. No answer. Xia glared at her sister and suddenly ripped a bow from one of the soldier's grip, along with the arrow that had been resting in his hand. She pulled it back and pointed it directly at Jia,  
“Tell me why you did it.” 

Minister Lu got down off his own horse and smiled at Xia,  
“Lady Xia, I think you may need to be enlightened to the fact that your father is an awful human being.” Xia swung round, now pointing her only arrow at Lu. A few men lifted their swords but Jia lifted her hand and shook her head.  
“How so?” Xia demanded. She was willing to let the arrow go at any second, regardless of whether or not she got an answer.   
“Why, he set my father on you and your sisters” Minister Lu answered.   
“He wouldn't do such a thing” Xia snapped.  
“Oh but he would Princess” Lu replied, that smile was just the same.

Minister Shu's smile had haunted Xia's dreams since she was 16 years old and now a woman of 18 she wasn't prepared to let it haunt her anymore. Not when the man was dead. Xia was about to let go but Sun suddenly ran out from behind Jia where she had been and grabbed Xia's arm,  
“Please Xia don't do it” she muttered into her side as she gripped the fabric of her dress, pressing her face into her side. Xia was suddenly overwhelmed by guilt. Why was she taking matters into her own hands – she had Jia could argue about this later. So she lowered the bow and dropped it on the ground,  
“For now, I'll believe your lies.”


	11. Forgetting You

Xia and Sun gradually adapted to living their lives as Princesses with their sister in charge. Not that she was really in charge – it was all Minister Lu. So that was a lie. Sun was the one to adapt to life, Xia hated every single second of it but her own guilt of leaving her sisters to face it alone was far too great for her to even attempt escaping. She had argued with Jia multiple times over the last few months, demanding why she had not stood against Minister Lu. She had got the same answer time and time again,  
“I killed his family, so he will kill mine.”

However Xia's criticism of Jia waned slightly as her sister kept taking ill and refusing audiences with pretty much anyone – with the exclusion of one or two that were too important to ignore. Even though it pained her she did want to help Jia get out of the mess she'd made. Perhaps there was some basis to what Lu had said – if it was up to their father Jia would have to get out of it herself if he even let her live. 

So whenever she went to visit her sister, who spent too much time locked away in her room and not out in the fresh air as far Xia was concerned, she would attempt to instigate the idea of getting rid of Minister Lu.  
“Jia do you really believe everything he says, I don't think he's telling the truth about Father” Xia stated on one particularly cold afternoon, it was approaching winter. Jia gave a sigh and put her arms around her stomach, neglecting to answer. Xia sighed and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder as they stared out of the window. In the stables their two horses stood side by side, using each other for warmth. Xia then wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders and rested her chin on the top of her head,  
“I love you baby sister.”

Sun meanwhile was glad to be home, though she missed her parents and Xiong, who had miraculously escaped and been rescued by Pan Xiang, she couldn't deny the overwhelming feeling of being able to walk about unafraid. She was also very excited to be an Aunt, often pestering Jia and Shao Wang about names and what not. She would often stare in wonderment as she kept realising that her sister had gotten absolutely huge and that only continued over the following months.

Meanwhile a fortnight’s travel north Xiahou Dun had just put his feet up, intent on reading for a while. It had been half a year since he had seen Jia and he had not had any reply to the letter he had sent that would have got to her a day or so before the heads turned up. He shivered, that had been an awful sight. She hadn't done a very good job of a clean cut, that was for sure. They looked disgusting anyway because they were two weeks old but that just hadn't helped. Oh well, didn't matter now, she'd probably married that other General.

Minister Lu meanwhile was gladly exercising his new found power and he loved it. He had complete control over the Kingdom, if anything Jia was just a figure head as she had intended to make her brother. Of course he was acting only as something of regent, of course he was. He could see that people such as Shao Wang and Xun Shan could see right through him but, as long as he had the general populous under his control, he was practically invincible. Though he was exceedingly careful of Princess Xia, she knew exactly what he was up to and an expert in lies and deception herself.

The one thing that unsettled Jia the most was not what you might expect from her. Dangers of childbirth, being an actual mother, running the country, no, none of that at all. It was more that her Father, Mother and Brother hadn't turned up anywhere...yet. It got to the point where she actually demanded to see Lu, Xun Shan and those of the Shao family who commanded the army. She still stood firm on not killing her little brother but Lu had begun to put doubts in her mind about keeping her Mother alive.

“Well, we have our allies so Woxia can't attack us” Xun Shan reminded her.  
“That may be true but if we kill my Mother than perhaps we shall not be so well liked” Jia replied with a sigh.  
“Queen Xiang might I remind you that your mother has struck fear into the fathers of the current kings. If she is dead then they too will be afraid and stay on our side” Lu stated. Jia stared at him in utter disbelief.  
“Why would we want that?! Don't you see, they'd all come together and get rid of us if that happened. We'd be dead in five days” Jia snapped. Xun Shan nodded,  
“That is true, however if your Mother is still around then she will have to be under constant watch otherwise her ease in establishing connection with Woxia would be much more of a threat.”

“What about Han?” Shao Jian suggested. He was the elder of the five brothers of Shao while Wang was the second and any words that came from him were a surprise. He was strong and silent, unlike Xun Shan who was silent but depended too much on his mind to stay that way.  
“Han?” Jia repeated, frowning at him in confusion, “please, explain.”  
“Well Han is bigger that Woxia, ourselves and all the kingdoms between us, so surely making them allies would be a good move. We put down the rebellion, so if anything they owe us” Jian explained.  
“That is true” Jia nodded, though she got to say no more.

Over the next few hours Jia found herself in something of a permanent state of panic. Not necessarily because of her own fears but because of everyone else’s. Minister Lu was afraid he would lose his puppet. Sun was afraid she'd lose her safe haven. Xia was afraid she'd lose her little sister. Lady Chan was afraid she'd lose her best friend. Shao Wang was afraid he'd lose his wife. All of these fears accumulated into one and set themselves in Jia's heart, destroying any hope she'd had to stay alive.

Yet she persevered and reminded herself she'd killed two men who had more military experience than she did. If she could survive an encounter with them she could probably survive childbirth as well. So on the other end of everyone else's terror and a great deal of pain the sixteen year old Queen had her baby son placed on her chest. Jia gave a little smile and ran her little finger down his cheek,  
“Hey little one. Hey little Rui.” 

As a reble group Jia found that some rules were broken, due to lack of trust and indeed people, when it came to properness. She certainly didn't mind being sat, feeding Rui herself. Jia had always felt that was better, her mother hadn't done that and always complained of it. She always said there was some kind of distance between herself and her children. Jia had felt that, it was hardly there but she had felt it. Still there was also the danger of someone taking the post and attempting to kill the child but Jia preferred not to think of that.

Everyone's fear for the most part was gone and was replaced by joy.  
“We have a Queen! We have an heir!” Minister Lu cheered, rushing about on some kind official business. Shao Wang laughed as Minister Lu's voice sounded just as he opened the door,  
“How are you sweetheart?”   
“Surprisingly okay” Jia laughed as Shao Wang sat beside her and Rui. Shao Wang smiled at his son and tapped his nose gently,  
“Looks just like you” he grinned. 

A few weeks later Jia received a second later from Dun, which came as quite the surprise as she was sure by now he must have forgotten about her.

Princess  
It has been almost a year now, I hope all is well.

Do not think that the Shan have gone unnoticed in Han, the court know, they just do not wish to act.

Well, I suppose this is going to extremely late but congratulations on your marriage and the birth of your son. I hope he's fit and healthy, I'm sure you'll be an excellent mother. 

Cao Cao's ranks have grown since, so much so as he has to give out proper titles to us, it was quite the laugh him naming me a general, hilarious in fact. It's been pointed out enough that while I may be quite the competent fighter, I am hardly the best strategist. Still, it is a good promotion never the less.

Speaking of Cao Cao, he's started to put a little pressure on me to marry. I suppose I should really and it's not as if he's the only one, father has been doing it to. My little brother is married before me, don't you think that's odd? He and Lady Pang are happy if the question crosses your mind. Anyway, I must ask, is it wrong not to want to marry? I'm almost twenty years old, should I be finding someone or even let my parents make the choice?

I suppose I shouldn't really be burdening you with this but I suppose I best say it.  
Jia, I still love you. I don't know why and I know you're married now and days away but I still love you.

Xiahou Dun

Lots had been scribbled out before Dun had stated the last two sentences and Jia gave a sad sigh as she folded it up and tucked it away in the little box where the other one was. How could he still love her? She didn't want him to love her, she was married to Shao Wang and she adored him. Anyway Shao Wang didn't know about Dun or about the small love affair or about Queen Ma promising Jia to Dun. Should she have told him? 

Jia also found herself desperately wanting to reply, to just tell him that everything was fine. Yet if she did that she'd probably jeopardize the entire plan that Minister Lu and Xun Shan had laid out.   
It'd be cruel on him anyway, as if it were some kind of declaration that she still loved him as well. Honestly she wasn't sure about that, she certainly still missed his company and the on the occasion she'd find herself missing his smile and his laugh. 

No use thinking of this, she had Rui to look after and Shao Wang to love. She didn't need to even remember Xiahou Dun anymore.


	12. Preparations

Yet more horror and panic followd as the Shan-Han boy came back as they began preparing themselves. King Cai had 15,000 men, if not more, while Jia had only 9,000.

So naturally they all prepared for the worst. Many of their finest were left in the city while supplies were stocked up and the vat majority of citizans sent southwards. Jia though greatly regretful, sent Lady Chan away, taking Rui with her. She hadn't wanted to and had sat with Wang for a while, holding him while they huddled together. He had smiled at his parents and laughed when Wang tapped him on the nose while he tried to grab for his father's finger. Yet, both parents knew that it was for the best. Jia knew just who to send him to and wrote a hasty letter to Dun.

We are under heavy attack, so I hope you'll understand.

If I die then please, look after my son as if he were your own. Change his name, do not let him know that he is of Shan descent. I do not want my country facing another civil war when he grows up. Tell him that his mother died in childbirth.

Jia

She shed no tears, there was no use in being upset and just continued as if Rui had never been hers. She only prayed that Dun would look after him, she had some faith in him to do so.

Wearing armour again was odd to Jia, she hadn't even touched it for at least two years now and this was the second battle she had ever participated in anyway. It was awkward and heavy, not like last time when it had felt rather light. Then again last time was just a skirmish between Shan and a neighbour, it was hardly worth calling it a battle. Yet now...now it was a civil war that she was leading, that she did not want to lead or have anything to do with at all. Perhaps the burden of the battle's outcome made the armour heavier.

Just as she strapped the sword to her side and pulled the arrows over her shoulder, a voice asked,  
“Are you ready sister?” Jia jumped and turned around, her hand automatically tightening on the bow.  
“You...you can't fight!” Jia snapped, very much aimed at Sun.  
“Sure we can” Sun laughed, “come on, we'll make Mum see sense.” So Sun had been caught in Minister Lu's lie as well. Xia gave a sigh and then a very forced smile,  
“Come on now Jia, lets go, we've got a battle to win,” and so, for now, the three sisters were once again united.

Of course Xia had a totally different intention; she was going to defect when the battle turned it's tide in who's ever favour it chose. If it went in favour of her father then all was well, it would be an easy move. If it turned in Jia's favour it would be a little more difficult, they hadn't been serving Xia long enough to follow her every word but she could try. Anyway, it may not even matter as when she defected, moral would plummet entirely so they'd probably join her anyway. No one expected such a close family member, even in a civil war within a family, to defect, especially as Xia had played such an important role in keeping Jia happy and healthy while she was heavily pregnant. It was a one way ticket to getting her father back on the throne.

Jia found herself terrified as she looked upon the soon to be advancing army of her Father. That was much, much more than 15,000, 20,000 or more. Yet where had he got this all from? How had she not noticed that this great army was amassing right under her nose. How had it not even come to the attention of Minister Lu or Xun Shan?  
“Jia! Jia!” Yelled a voice and Jia almost jumped a foot in the air when she became aware of herself again and found Shao Wang to be rather close to her. When he saw that she was back to reality again he drew away and frowned at her,  
“Were you alright?”  
“I was just...thinking...”Jia sighed, trailing off as she looked away. Shao Wang came closer and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear,  
“It'll be alright” he smiled, he then kissed her gently and when he pulled away he lifted her helmet and placed it on her head, tightening it to the right fit.

Sun stared at her sister and brother in law and found herself jealous, they were so in love, it was plain to see, why couldn't she have that? There had been a very strange feeling that had bothered Sun recently, one of freedom. She had kept herself to herself most of the time, except around family and family alone. She had never loved any boys, that had been Jia, and she had never sought after knowledge, that was Xia. Sun was just, well, Sun.

“Sun, can I talk to you” Xia asked, smiling at her youngest sister in a super sweet way, making Sun some what suspicious. However Sun had the ultimate trust in her sister and followed her to somewhere quiet,  
“What's wrong Xia?” Xia smiled at her sister again and touched her cheek gently,  
“Do you like it here?” Sun blinked, a little surprised by the extremely odd question. Still, she could never lie to Xia,  
“I want to go back to Mahma and Bahba” Sun mumbled, looking at her feet. Xia embraced her sister, pressing her to her chest and stroking her hair,  
“Then we'll go back to Mahma and Bahba” but then Xia knelt so she was smaller than her sister, a regretful look on her face.

“You know that means betraying Jia, don't you?” 

Sun felt tears well up in her eyes and she threw herself onto her sister's shoulder and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. She loved her parents and little brother, she loved Xia but she loved Jia as well. Jia had always been the one she went running to when that happened. Jia was the one who always cleaned her up. Jia had been the one to help her and explain everything to her when she'd been so scared when she started bleeding for what Sun thought was no reason.   
“Can't Jia come with us?” Sun asked, pulling away and grabbing her sister's shoulders, “Xia make her come with us!”

Xia held Sun in silence, letting her cry and cry and cry like she wanted to. Xia was tempted to join her. It wasn't her sister she hated, it was Minister Lu. He should be the one to face the sword, not Jia. If only Jia had killed him on that same night Shu and Hui were killed, then none of this would have happened. Jia would have come back, she would have married than man she seemed to have fallen so in love with. If there as one thing that Xia would ever vow to do it was to do everything within her power to make sure Jia lived when the rulers took back their crown.

“Are you really going to do this Cai?” Queen Ma asked, walking into the tent.   
“I have to dear” Cai replied, his eyes were closed and he had his arms crossed high on his chest. Xiong got up from beside his father and ran to his mother, hugging her. Pei Ma Shi placed a gentle hand on her son's head and ran her fingers through his hair gently.  
“What if we just tried to make her see sense, snap her out of the illusion that she's under” Queen Ma suggested, biting on her lip. She couldn't cry...not in front of Xiong...not in front of anyone.

Xiong, who was now six and still none the wiser to what was going on, took to hiding in his mother's side. He acted like he didn't know what was happening, but he knew. He knew he wasn't going to have his big sister after this fight. He might not even have a Father and his mother would have to be in charge. Xiong had been scared of all of it since Jia had been taken away by the man who was in the other tent. Then there had been the heads, he had woken up screaming many times since he'd seen them. Nothing had been right since Jia had been taken away.

Off at their position Yi Ning and Pan Xiang were sat together, watching the army as you might expect. A flicker of unrest. Something they could attack. Yi Ning, unlike the other general, was small, weedy and scared. He didn't trust the Han men who had come to aid them, Han was always hungry for power so it would be no surprise to him if they turned on them and destroyed the entire Shan kingdom and took it for themselves. The sister's rebellion had been enough to teach them that they were in constant danger.

Pan Xiang was sat sharpening his blade, glaring at the horizon that just under 10,000 troops sat on. He couldn't wait to kill her, to rid the world of that pesky mite that had the audacity to call herself Queen when her Father was alive and well, never mind he had a male heir anyway. If the King caught her and demanded her execution...oh Pan Xiang would be first in line to be the one to kill her. A life for a life...

His sister had been killed, trampled by the bitch Queen's horse and Pan Xiang had wanted to kill her since. Even though he had been told time and time again that the horse had done it of it's own accord and Jia had been in Woxia at the time the temptation had never left him. When they passed one another in the corridor Jia had never acknowledged he was there, never apologised to the family in fact. The temptation to wring her skinny little neck was almost overwhelming.

Minister Lu looked at the army and gave a quiet “hm” before turning his back and going back to the map that Xun Shan and two of of the Shao's were studying. Yet he was excited. How could he not be? If this battle succeeded all he had to do was kill Jia and he'd have the crown. He might face the Shao's but they would be easy work, they may have been gifted commanders but few liked them since they too had begun to push their influence on the throne, Minister Lu had made sure they were disliked. Him! King of Shan! No, not Shan, of Shu. His Father had been wrongly killed as far as he was concerned, to name the Dynasty and kingdom he was going to create after him was the greatest honour.

Xiahou Dun watched the woman on the horse go round the advancing army, easily spotting she was carrying a baby but he said nothing to anyone around him. He knew it wasn't Jia but he knew that was her child. If there was one member of this family that was going to survive it was that little boy, enough people were going to die over the coming days.

He looked about him, wondering if the others felt as much regret as he did. Li Qi and Yue Jin certainly looked uncomfortable, Qi was playing about with the little toy that his son had given to him before he left and his wife had made him take. The cup of tea that Yue Jin was drinking was shaking in his hands and he didn't cry out or curse when a spot of the boiling hot liquid fell in his lap. Yuan was pacing, looking about, then pacing some more, like he always did when he was nervous. All of them had made a great friend out of Jia, none of them wanted her to die.

“You're thinking of the Queen, aren't you” asked a voice. Dun jumped and turned to look at Cao Cao,  
“Perhaps” he answered simply, quickly turning back. The massive army they had brought had made camp as Jia's had across the plain. Now it was just...waiting...hours of it, maybe even days where they'd just stare at each other from a distance.   
“There's no use denying it, I've known you since we were children, you're an open book to me” Cao Cao sighed, placing a hand on Dun's shoulder, “you know what you have to do?”  
“I see her, I have to kill her” Dun answered, his voice void of any emotion.


	13. Family

After only two hours the signal was given. The signal that was going to destroy either the rebels, the righteous or all of them at once. The righteous? Well, that depended on who's side you were on. For The rightful rulers of Shan of course they were the righteous, the word was in their name. For the Han most of them thought themselves as righteous, they were only doing their duty. None of them knew any of the Shan, they were just fighting against them. Righteousness did not seem to even come to the minds of the rebels. Many knew Minister Lu's lies, even Jia did not believe them and she was only conforming to keep herself alive for long enough. Minister Lu himself knew what he was doing was comparable to a certain degree of evil.

Jia pulled herself up onto her horse from Han, the one that had trampled Pan Xiang's sister was long dead – Jia had only been eight after all and it was an old horse anyway.  
“Are you truly sure you want to go ahead with this?” Shao Wang asked, looking out onto the massive army, “anyone who survives is going to try and kill you for this.”  
“I know” Jia sighed, “but I know what I'm doing. I've thought this through.” Wang sighed and was going to reach out to her but kept his hand on the reins of his own horse. That was probably a bad idea now.

The signal sounded and they charged, two units of 2,000 going to the left, another two units of 2,000 to the right and the remaining 1,000 following Jia into the battle. It was at least 6 to 3 on the field, if not more in favour of the rulers. It wasn't impossible but it wasn't looking promising. No, there was no use thinking like that, it was the easiest way to get killed. Jia shook her head slightly, trying not to be noticed by her soldiers see her doubting herself in some way. She knew they could win this, if they just tried. They were surrounding the forces, hold them in so they could only retreat to hostile land – Bang Cha was dangerously close to Han and the only bit of flat land between the two. If they could hem them in they'd be trapped. They'd win. Jia would be Queen in her own right. 

Not that Jia believed they could win, she wouldn't have sent Rui away if she thought they even had a chance. It was easy for the balance to be tipped, for the plan to fail. If they didn't go where they expected the rulers to go then the plan would fail. If they had any more reinforcements the plan would fail. If any of the most important leaders were killed moral would plummet, some might even defect. Oh so much to worry about, so much to lose.

Then the bad news started coming.  
“Queen Xiang!” Called a voice, a messenger on a horse. Jia did her best to cut down anyone around her, slowly edging her way over to the man as he did the same.  
“General Xun Shan has been killed and most of the faction wiped out, they had archers ready.” Jia cursed,  
“Is the remaining wing still going ahead?”  
“All functional, depleted by 800 to 1000 men but working, whole unit led by General Shao Wang.” Jia's grip tightened on her sword for a moment,  
“Stay with him, bring any news where it is needed.”

Then more bad news came.  
“Queen Xiang! Lady Xia and Lady Sun have defected!” Moral did exactly what Jia thought it would do. The rulers fought more fiercely and the rebels only fell around her. She could hear another horse behind her and spotted Minister Lu racing up to her.  
“Jia, this is bad. Really bad. Not just because of your sisters. All of us are going to die.”  
“What?!” Jia demanded, glaring at him, “what do you mean all of us.”  
“Han are here, they sent an army to help out but they have massive numbers following. They're going to destroy Shan” Minister Lu explained, the words tumbling out of his mouth. It seemed like Jia had only one option now.

Lu took her place in fighting and she took his horse, flying through the mass of soldiers, no one was really sure who was supposed to be killing who. Blood seem to have formed in great puddles and the horse splashed through them as Jia egged it on, ever faster. She ran into arrow fire and tumbled from her horse as one embedded itself in her leg. She grabbed the horses reigns, hoping it wouldn't begin to move again, or worse trample her with it's hooves. She wrenched herself to her feet and dragged herself up onto the horses back. Minister Lu only smiled when he watched her go.

“FATHER” She screamed, upon entering the ruler's camp, she'd cut her way through the guards and cried as she'd done so. It's hard to kill a person you know. She was immediately seized by other soldiers and dragged before her Father. Her knee gave out and she collapsed, her arms stretched as the soldiers refused to let go. When they did one kicked her in the ribs and she felt it break, or at least fracture, as she fell to the floor.

“You oppose me, and now you come running for help?” King Cai asked, glaring down at his daughter who frankly did not have the strength to stand, “you honestly expect me to believe a word you say?”  
“Please” Jia sobbed, her rib screaming as she bowed to him, her forehead on the floor, “please Bố.”   
“You say that an army is approaching from behind, all Han?” King Cai asked. His daughter never called him Bố, occasionally she'd call her Mother Ona from the language her mother spoke but that was as far as any affection got between her and her parents. Jia nodded and then passed out from blood loss and pain.

Queen Ma came running in, having been barred from entering while her daughter spoke with King Cai. She dropped to her knees when she saw her daughter lying there, motionless and continuing to lose blood.   
“Jia! Jia!” She said, shaking her daughter's shoulder, “Jia! Jia, wake up!”   
“Restrain yourself!” Cai shouted at his wife, grabbing her and dragging her to her feet. Queen Ma shook from his grip, turned around to face him,  
“CAI DO SOMETHING SHE'S DYING!” 

“Chị” Xiong screamed, running in, wondering what his Mother was shouting at his Father for, only to find his sister on the floor.   
“Get him out!” Cai shouted at the guards who had dragged Jia in and they set to dragging the prince out.  
“Chi! Chị! Chị! Chị! Chị! Chi! Chị!” Xiong screamed over and over as he was torn from the ground and they had to wrestle with him to keep him up and manage to get him out. Outside he gave in and burst into tears, curling into a small ball when they put him down. Jia was trying to save them, she wouldn't come back otherwise and Father was doing nothing! Nothing to help her!

“Whatever is the matter?” Sun asked, walking over to her little brother, wondering why on earth he was curled up in a small ball crying. He shouldn't have been here anyway, but there was no where else for him to go.  
“T-t-they've got Jia” he mumbled through his tears, “and they're being h-horrible.”   
“Oh no” Sun muttered. She turned from her brother and ran to Xia,  
“Xia they're going to kill her” Sun shouted as she grabbed her sister's arm. Xia cursed and let her sister rush her to where Jia was.

“Let me see my sister!” Xia shouted, hitting the guard's chest, “let me see her!” The guard said nothing, only moving aside when their mother pushed her way out of the tent.  
“Xia be quiet” Pei Ma Shi sighed, “everything's alright.” Xia felt tears well up in her eyes and she dropped to her knees,  
“This is my fault” she whimpered, “this is my fault.” Her mother knelt down and embraced her,  
“It's not, defecting may have just saved your sister's life.” Xia said nothing, just buried her face in her mother's shoulder and cried. Sun joined them and Ma wrapped her arms around her other daughter.  
“Everything will be alright.”

No army came, none at all, and though Jia lived and was managing to sit up within a few hours.  
“I was tricked” she muttered when she realised that no army was here. Her father opened the door and marched in not a second later,  
“You've tricked us.”  
“Minister Lu tricked me” Jia replied, turning her head to watch her Father as he walked across the tent.  
“Then you're to blame for believing him” her Father replied. Jia glared at his back as he picked up the sword that lay against a wooden block,  
“You think I don't feel like that. Since I broke from the Kingdom, not that I did that voluntarily, I have been forced to marry, I've had a child. You can blame Minister Lu for all of this.” Then she added, however much it hurt to say,  
“But, if it puts your mind at ease and this war stops, then kill me.”


	14. War

“Hold up, Cousin” Yuan said as he passed Dun, hitting his shoulder twice. Dun nodded, forcing a smile at his cousin as he walked off. He could do this. He couldn't do this. He could do this. He could not do this. He was to go alone, they had been told the enemy commander was in the main camp, and kill her. Dun knew that Cao Cao was making him do this on purpose, to make him truly battle hardened what was a better practice than killing the person you loved?

When he set off he set off in silence, trying to look how he usually did, reminding himself that he had Li Qi and Yue Jin close by as back up. He held his head high, looking down on everyone and kept a hand on the hilt of his sword out of instinct. That's how a general looked, not shaking and full of anger – that would give him away for sure. Yet however impressive and fearless he made himself look it had no effect on his feelings what so ever. He just did not want to kill Jia.

No one was in or around the tent the Princess had been confined to so he went in without anyone noticing. He stayed quiet, she was looking the other way and when she did turn around she looked shocked but not scared. Oh...if you only you were scared Princess.   
“It's been a while” he smiled, his voice a low whisper. Jia looked away,  
“I'm sorry I never replied to any of your letters” she sighed. Dun shook his head and sat beside her,  
“It's alright, I knew you couldn't.”

“You shouldn't be here” she mumbled, looking anyway, as if there was something to look out onto. Not that she wanted to see a battlefield.  
“I know” Dun replied, trying to reach out and touch her hand gently but she moved away.  
“No, I mean you should be back in China” Jia sighed, she turned to him, “I knew we were going to lose so I sent my son to you.” 

Dun wished he had killed her the moment he had come in. He didn't need to know this. Well... he didn't want to know this. To think he was trusted by her and he was going to kill her. Shaking he stood, hand on the hilt of his sword again.   
“Then I'll look after him” Dun replied, unsheathing his sword, a metallic scream ringing in the air. He lifted it, his arm shaking, threatening to make him drop it. If only it would.  
Then there was a real scream and Dun fell to the floor in the next second, the sword flying across the ground and hitting the other that King Cai had left. He screamed in agony when he saw the shaft of the arrow that had been buried in his shoulder and he tried to tare it out only to break the shaft and render any hope useless. Someone ran to Jia, making sure to kick him in the face on their way before forcing her out of the bed and dragging her with them. When they kicked him his nose made an audible crunching noise and he choose to just lay there, blood pouring from his shoulder and only the ground for comfort.

“Xia stop!” Jia begged her elder sister as she was dragged through the camp, trying to struggle free as her rib screamed, pleading with her to stop.  
“No! A Han man tried to kill you” Xia snapped, pulling Jia through the doors of their father's tent.  
“Father, a Han man tried to attack and kill Jia” Xia stated, letting Jia rest for a moment.  
“What?” King Cai demanded, looking horrified, “perhaps we were not tricked after all. Fa! Send a message to Pan Xiang, have our army retreat. Jia you must go back, have your own army retreat.” Jia nodded, gripping her torso as pain rattled through her body,  
“All I ask for is a horse.”  
“Granted, now go.”

Jia made her way painfully slowly to where the horse had some how stayed put from when she came to give Minister Lu's false warning. She had to ride slowly but was glad that most of the commanders had heard the message to Pan Xiang and cleared a path for her.  
“Stop your advance!” She shouted to the few troops that were left of her own faction, “retreat!” The shout was painful and her hands tightened around the reins of the horse, burning the mark into her skin. To her relief the message spread quickly and they began to disappear.

When Jia returned to their own camp Minister Lu, Shao Jian and Shao Bai were waiting. The absence of Xun Shan was heavy. He had been their main strategist – he was battle hardened, intelligent but now he was dead. Minister Lu may have been intelligent but he didn't have the experience, they were hopeless without Xun Shan. Though another absence was bothering Jia and she looked around frantically before turning to his father and brother,  
“Where is he?”  
“Go to his position.”

Jia ignored their pleas for her to stay, taking a sword that had fallen from a soldiers hand and sheathing it in the empty case sat on her hip.  
“If we can't find our top commander we will look like fools” she had snapped at them before going off into the distance, hoping to be out of the sight of the Han. If she was alone it was another easy way to kill her but worry had engulfed her before she had thought of that consequence. He had to be alive. He couldn't die yet. Not yet.

Jia stopped dead when she saw him. She almost fainted and she felt tears coming to her eyes. You aren't dead. You aren't dead. Please don't be dead. Not yet. PLEASE. Thoughts of desperation raged wars in her mind and she jumped down, trying to forget the pain in her rib. She knelt beside him and took off his helmet, the guard that had been there revealing purple bruises. Someone had hung him.

“Wang” she whispered softly, gently shaking his shoulder, “Wang wake up.” He moved and she almost cried out with joy, only to realise that it was because she was shaking his shoulder.  
“Wake up!” She cried, “wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!” She gave in and collapsed onto his still body. His chest did not rise or fall, it didn't push her head up a little like it had when they had been together, holding onto one another. Their final comfort in their war torn world.

But Shao Wang was dead.

There was an ominous cackling sound behind Jia. For a moment she thought it was crows but then realised it was exactly what it sounded like. A mad man laughing. Jia pulled herself up and turned to see who the culprit was, who was daring to laugh so cruelly in her presence. To some she was, after all, still Queen.  
“Gao Shu?” She mumbled, her eyes slowly becoming wider as she realised that he was the man who had done this. He continued to laugh and drew his sword before almost collapsing he was laughing so hard,  
“Oh did the little Queen lose her love?!” He cawed. 

Jia was up in a second, wrenching the sword from it's shealth, taking a couple of tries as she did it too quickly as tears fell down her face.  
“You bastard!” She shouted, running at him with the sword, her rib had gone numb now...or she was going to feel the brunt of this later. She plunged the sword into his vulnerable side, just where the armour did not cover and he fell. She gave him a kick for good measure before turning back to look at Shao Wang. 

She knelt beside him again and collapsed onto him, indeed feeling the brunt of the pain now.  
“What am I supposed to do” she whispered, her face turning to ice against the cold armour that was useless now. Her tears fell from her face onto his chest. His unmoving chest. How long had he been dead for? The armour may have been cold but his body wasn't. It can't have been long. If only she'd been here earlier, she could have saved him! When she stood she took one thing from him, the white cloak that was now stained by grass and blood and that was all.

Jia did not go back to the tent when she came back, no she had a better and rather reckless idea. She commanded them all to return home. There were no more Shan rebels, they were under the king once again – anyone who argued against that would be under his law not hers. Some thanked her, one even bowed to but others walk off, muttering criticisms and calling her weak. She didn't care, enough lives were lost and any more was pointless, useless. It had all been pointless and useless anyway, and she knew just who to blame.

“Ah you've returned” Shao Bai said, looking rather regretful, the tear stains on Jia's face were obvious and recognised the cloak round her shoulders. Jia ignored him and addressed them all,  
“All of you, go home, I'll make sure you don't face any punishment for this.” There was an out cry but Jia shouted them down and declared,  
“We have no soldiers, I said the same to them.” They did the same, the minister in charge of writings burst into tears and thanked her while the youngest Shao brother looked ready to murder her.   
“I suppose you want me to go with you?” Lu asked when it was just them. Jia nodded,  
“I'm sorry Lu.” 

“You're going to what?!” Queen Ma roared at her daughter, her hair more fire than pigment. Jia sighed and repeated,  
“Hand myself over to Han. Then Father and you don't have to feel any guilt over me if I end up dead and it might just get us out of the mess we've made.” King Cai coughed,   
“Alright I made” Jia sighed, standing up straight.  
“Jia you can't do that! We'll take you back to Woxia, you'll be safe there” her Mother insisted.  
“What about the people here Ona?” Jia sighed, “no one will protect them from Han if they try and breech our gates again.” 

“Alright” King Cai said, “if they'll accept you they can take you.”  
“Xia has already begun to make her way back, am I correct?” Jia asked, she'd been worried her sister would be refused even though she was married to a Han man...actually come to think of it that probably wouldn't matter – it might even make things worse.  
“She has, she is simply going to say she was taken hostage, if she says she's fighting with us she'll be fighting on Han's side” King Cai answered.   
“Then it is decided?” Jia asked. King Cai nodded.

They dealt with Lu first and King Cai was surprisingly...kind. He walked around Lu who had his head on the floor and his hands tied behind his back.  
“You have manipulated my daughter into leading a rebellion. You then planned to take over the entire of Shan and start a new Dynasty” King Cai stated, “I'd say you're quite ambitious boy.” King Cai continued his walk around Lu until he came to his side and kicked him over so he had to look at the King,  
“You have a wife and son, don't you?” Lu nodded, gritting his teeth.   
“Excellent, well you can keep your position” King Cai smiled, he then turned to his personal bodyguard, “have them killed when we return.” 

War is cruel, but people are crueller.


	15. A Progression of Time

_They watched the dancers, it was late, so very late but the alcohol they were drinking some how managed to keep them awake. They lay against each other, smiling, daring to hold hands. There was hardly anyone with them, a brother and a commander but all the lovers could see was one another. Delicate touches held their attention, perhaps a hand to hold. Whenever their eyes met they would smile, at peace when with one another._

Oh if only that were true.

_The woman was not a peace, and though she smiled she did not smile because of the man who was holding her. She smiled because she had found her sanctuary away from her home. She smiled because breath still fell away from and was brought in by her tired lungs. Around her the big room felt small, cosy, how a home should feel. Not war torn, miserable and dripping with neglect and damp. Not like her real home was. She hated the man. He had tried to kill her, how could she forgive him when she had entrusted him with her son's life?_

_Time progressed for them, they left the hall, left the dancers to rest. Not just hours passed but days to weeks to months to years. Although there was none felt the woman forced love to blossom, giving all she could to her son, while what little was left went to the husband who's entire heart went to her. Soon her love had to divide between her own son and other's. A son. A daughter. Six sons and two daughters. Even though she hated the man she loved them so but she did not love him._

 

_End of Part 1 : The Girl from Shan_


	16. To War

Things had changed since Jia had taken leave of Shan in the hope that they might be left alone for a while. In all honesty she had not even thought she'd still be alive, let alone working in complete harmony with Cao Cao's slowly building faction. Cao Cao had had her marry Dun to keep her tied to them easily, she had entrusted her eldest to him and Cao Cao had...tweaked things a little. Rui, who was now eight years old, was legally Dun's and he knew that Jia would never leave him. 

Rui didn't really seem to mind that he wasn't his father's child, he'd known quickly – Jia had never wanted to hide the truth from him and never allowed anyone else to do it for her. Anyway, he looked nothing like her or Dun so he'd been asking questions quickly. He also knew his father was dead, but he'd been told he'd have to wait until he was older to find out how he had died. It never seemed to bother him though, and he got on very well with his half siblings, luckily having Chong, who was only a year younger than him, to play with.

There were many jokes that Jia was more fertile than the land they farmed their crops on as four years before, when she had just turned twenty, she had given birth to triplets – two boys, Yuan and Mao, and a girl, Guo. She'd had her first daughter at 18, who was named Wen and a very pretty and talented little girl of six. The final addition to the family was Cao, who was only two year's old and liked to keep his mother and wet nurse awake all night.

Jia and Dun were...an interesting pair. They got on, but that was about it. They worked their way around problems, trying to stay friends but Jia easily lashed out at him. She'd commonly criticise him in her native tongue. So, while it was sometimes very funny to hear the words that their children picked up were not always...the best. In public they were actually rather sweet to one another but behind closed doors they'd argue over the stupidest little things, perhaps a book was on the wrong shelf or some form of crockery had been left lying around. 

Though they did have their moments though. They tended to be infrequent, not happening for months at a time, but that didn't stop them being fun. When the news came they were in the same empty hall from their wedding night, there were no dancers or music like their had been. Jia had come here, to calm herself down for a few moments. She'd had Guo, Yuan and Chong coming at her all at once and needed a few moments afterwards.

Now Dun had his arms tight around her waist while lifting her off the ground, spinning round with quick steps. Jia was laughing, clinging to him, almost making him topple over. It was a miracle that he didn't get caught up in the skirt she was wearing, it seemed to billow out and didn't help when he almost tripped over from dizziness.   
“Better?” He smiled, teetering and tottering but smiling. She giggled and nodded.

“General Xiahou?” Asked a voice. They both jumped and Jia almost slipped out of his arms before he could gently set her down.  
“Yes?” Dun replied, turning and raising an eyebrow at Han Hao, who was stood in the open doorway.  
“Lord Cao Cao has requested to see you” Han Hao explained and as Dun turned to Jia he added, “both of you.” He then left, leaving the two looking rather surprised.

Jia hadn't been called on by Cao Cao for a long time, there had been trivial chit chat with him from time to time, only naturally ending rather quickly. Military wise he had ignored her, partially because she was a mother with a lot on her hands but mostly because he didn't want to expose her. Not yet anyway. Emperor Ling still had his throne and was still very much alive, though he knew Jia was within Cao Cao's house putting her on a battlefield was an easy way to get just about everyone killed. So, why had he called on her now? Surely not to present her again, Jia shivered at the thought, no, certainly not. He wouldn't ask to see Dun as well anyway – it had to be a military matter.

Actually...come to think of it, there was one thing that might just be the reason they had been called. The rebellion that had been nothing more than a few hundred, 8 years ago before Shan had almost destroyed itself, had begun to grow and now a couple of million were already dead. They had begun calling it the yellow turban rebellion, after the strange hat like things some of them wore on their heads. Hardly practical, if that got hit with a sword it wasn't going to save you.

That was exactly what Cao Cao wanted to see them about.  
“There has been a call to arms recently” he explained, standing with them, addressing them in a friendly manner, “and I have decided that, in order to make a name for myself at court, it is best we take part. I'll need the two of you to help me.”   
“I...I don't wish to be rude my lord” Jia sighed, “but, I thought I was to be kept something of a secret?”  
“Ah, of course, I won't actually be subjecting you to any fighting” Cao Cao answered, “but we will be a long way from any battlefield we must fight on. I'll need you to many any supply lines.”

Jia stopped dead and stared at Cao Cao. Why her? Why supply lines? He laughed, reading her expression with ease,  
“I suppose you're asking why” he commented, “well, it's secure and you'll be able to take your children and a couple of attendants with you. You'll be based as something of a middleman, simply making sure they go through safely.”  
“Don't they often attack the middleman?” Jia replied, frowning at him.   
“Not when they're in a small village where they go unnoticed” Cao Cao smiled. So he did know what he was doing.

“Mahma? What's wrong” Wen asked when she came into the room that her mother was shuffling her way through, seeming to be trying to find something, “is something lost?”  
“No dear” Jia smiled, “we're going away for a bit.” The smile was a little forced, but if they were promised little danger then perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. They'd have guards anyway, descreatly hidden among the local people.  
“Where to? Are we going with Bahba? Is there someone evil to fight” Wen asked, suddenly looking rather excited.  
“Sort of, we'll be in a village not far away” Jia sighed, she'd crushed her daughter's hopes a little.

Wen gave a gentle sigh but brightened up again immediately after,  
“Can I help you Mahma?!” She giggled when she asked and beamed at her mother. Oh, it could do no harm, she was a good child.  
“You could fold these clothes for me” Jia suggested, “I know it's boring dear, so you don't have to.”   
“No, I will!” Wen smiled and straight away she was folding the clothes. She didn't need to ask if she was doing it right, she already knew she was, so instead she sang a song in Uzbek that her Grandmother had taught her the one time they had met.

Jia had seen her family once since she had given herself to Han in hopes that they would remain safe. They had come to the Han court themselves to agree on something of an alliance. Some of their income went in return for Han not attacking their borders and destroying them. However their military was cut down and Minister Lu was finally put out of his misery. As promised both his wife and son had been killed, but he had finally been able to join them a year later.

Jia had seen Minister Lu before he had been killed, his death in fact ordered by Han and not Shan. He had become skinnier and more dead looking, but he had brought with him a kind face for Jia.  
“I buried him for you” he smiled at her, “he's under the tree.” Jia had smiled at him before he had collapsed, crying on her shoulder. He cried for his wife and he cried for his son and only a month later he joined them.

“Mahma?” Asked a voice, making Jia jump and she turned to look at who was at the door,   
“Oh, Rui, is something the matter?” The eldest boy shook his head,  
“I just wondered what you were packing for.” Jia sighed, she suddenly didn't want to do this, they were comfortable here – why move them?  
“We're going to be away for a little dear, but we'll come back eventually” Jia answered. Rui looked away, pouting a little,  
“Will it be for a long time Mahma?”   
“I don't know dear.”

When night fell a few decided they'd spend their evening out in the fading summer sun, drinking wine with concubines or wives. They made general chatter, mostly about the upcoming movements – surprisingly no one protested, Jia had heard from Xia that people had called it a waste of time, that the rebellion would just blow over. She'd coincidently received her letter only a few hours after Cao Cao had addressed them. About that there was endless babbling of jealously, Jia had produced many children while Xia had failed to produce one so far – a stillborn baby girl was the best she had. 

While they spent their time outside silence seemed bliss about the roaring drunken couples and Jia sat quietly, seated on Dun's lap, leaning back into him. He didn't do much, very, very occasionally he'd tip her head back a little and kiss her neck and shoulder but that was it. She didn't resent him for touching her any more – it was just that she didn't love him. That was normal in marriages like this, it usually wasn't, being so important, bestowed on someone of Dun's social class but it had been a messy and quick seal, and of course Cao Cao had wanted it. 

“You thinking of home?” Dun asked as he felt Jia tense for a second, he put a gentle arm around her waist and kissed her gently.  
“It's been almost ten years and I still miss it” she sighed, turning a little so she could lie her head on his shoulder.  
“It is your home, you're allowed to” Dun muttered.  
“That's not it” Jia mumbled in reply, “I'm still scared of Shu. Even though I killed him” she felt a tear run down her face and hid her face in his neck. He placed a hand on her head and shushed her,  
“It's alright. Like I've always promised, I'll protect you; dead or living; peasant, lord or none.” 

Jia had been horrified when she found she was still scared of the now long dead Minister Shu. She'd had the same dream that had haunted her when she was a Princess, she hoped that those memories had been left with the title. Yet, even as a Lady, at the most unexpected times it would come back and continue to haunt her even though she had been reassured time and time again that ghost was long dead like the man. She had written to Xia, her contact with Sun completely cut off, and asked if it was the same for her. It was – but that had one another, Jia didn't even want to think of the now 22 year old Sun, all alone. 

“Jia! Come on!” Called a voice. Jia jumped and wiped her tears away quickly, she looked at Dun, her eyes seeming to beg for something.  
“Go on, I don't care” he laughed and she got up off his lap and ran to Lady Pang, who was also officially her sister in law. Lady Pang grabbed her hands and danced with her, trying to get her to dance a dance they'd been taught by far off foreigners some weeks before.   
“Not so fast!” Jia laughed as she was spun round and round by Lady Pang, almost falling over when it was finally over. 

Jia and Dun slept rather soundly that night, snuggled together as they usually were after nights like this. They had a tendency to sleep apart, Jia liked her space and it stopped her being jarred awake by terror if he bumped against her in his sleep. Nights like this had a tendency to be calm, starting off hugs and kisses, leading to love to lying together, holding onto one another as if the world was against them. 

Pretty soon it really was against them.

The town they were posted in was hardly a town and more of a village.  
“Bahba!” Wen called, running to her Father and grabbing his leg, stubbornly refusing to let go.   
“Hey! Wen, I need to go” Dun laughed, plying her off with quite a lot of force. She frowned at him as he held her up above his head, even though he smiled at her brightly.  
“Bahba should stay here” she whined, still pouting. Dun sighed and lowered her, sitting her on his shoulder and turning to look at Jia and their other children.   
“Aren't you going to say good bye?” Jia asked, her frown rather cold.

He said goodbye individually. Rui ignored him, hiding behind his Mother and turning away. Chong accepted the hug awkwardly, turning his face away. Wen stuck her nose up. The triplets didn't know much better and all copied their siblings, awkward hugs and glares for all. Cao was being held by Jia and she handed him to Dun with much hesitation. When he'd placed Cao back in Jia's arms he attempted to kiss her on the cheek but she flinched and shook her head at him. He sighed,  
“You want me to say goodbye when you won't accept it” he turned and went to leave, “suit yourselves.”

Days and nights passed and when all of the children were sleeping soundly Jia liked to take up her old hobby of watching the stars, with Lady Pang to accompany her. The stars were always beautiful, as was the town of less than a hundred. She made sure to give them what she didn't need – all the food to keep them fed was too much so it was given to those who really needed it. She was teaching her children to do the same, and to be grateful for what they were given. She could thank Dun for that.

“Jia” Lady Pang sighed, “I know you may not like him, but you were harsh to Dun. You did ask him to say goodbye.” Jia made a “hmph” sound and turned away,  
“I meant to the children, not me.” Lady Pang rolled her eyes, sometimes her sister in law seemed to really like making herself a difficult piece of work,  
“If you had not been so cold, perhaps they would not have. It's just like with your kindness, what ever you do will make an impression on them and they will copy you.” Jia didn't say anything.

“Xiong! You never do that!” Their mother had shouted, it was rare for her to shout. Xiong, who was in tears, had hit Xia with something he'd been playing with and seemed to be wondering what he was being shouted at for. In his eyes he'd done nothing wrong. He'd seen his Father hit people with things, so surely it was alright, wasn't it?  
“But Bahba does!” He retorted, sniffing and choking on hidden tears that hadn't appeared yet. Queen Ma suddenly seemed to become a little softer, and she knelt,  
“You don't copy Bahba, okay?” 

Since then Xiong had never laid a finger on anyone, or anything. He'd rejected any meat given to him, because that was hurting others, and he got upset if he saw anyone hurting, well, anything. Jia wondered if, now thirteen, he was any different. Their Father, a man of almost fifty, must have begun to feel the brunt of his age and he must have been training Xiong to follow in his footsteps and to stop any rebellions happening again. Oh Xiong, do a better job than I did.

“Jia? Jia!” Jia jumped and found Lady Pang to be only a few inches from her face, glaring at her,  
“Did you listen to a word I said?” Jia went read and looked away from Lady Pang's accusing eyes,  
“Erm...no...” she looked at the ground while Lady Pang stood up straight,  
“Unbelievable, what could occupy you for so long? I was going on and on and on!”   
“Oh...nothing” Jia sighed, “when does Cao Cao next want us to join him?” Lady Pang took a moment to think,  
“In a couple of weeks I think.” He could wait until then, he had battles to occupy him.

Lady Pang had brought Jia's guilty conscious to life and it bothered her all through the night. She wanted to repeat the night before they left, she wanted someone to hold her, to kiss, to embrace. No, that person was a day's travel away and the one she really wanted to cling onto was long dead. She sat up and looked at her children, no royal accommodation for them, just a small house with a room or two. They all slept so soundly...it was like Lady Pang said, they wouldn't feel guilty about it – they didn't know any better other than to copy their parents.


End file.
